PF is capable of permanently confining Hichilema to his house in New Kasama – Mumbi Phiri
PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri says the party is ready to provide security to President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and will look after him well than the Police.
“We call on the Police to give us a go ahead to protect our leader if they have failed. President Lungu is not just the Republican President but leader of the Patriotic Front (PF) and we have a very strong Party Security,” said Ms Phiri.
Speaking during a media briefing at the PF Secretariat today, the ruling Party DSG said what transpired in Mongu over the weekend when Hichilema and the UPND obstructed the Presidential Motorcade in full view of the Police shows how unprofessional the Police service is.
She said for how long will the ruling PF be expected to restrain from reacting to the UPND’s continued provocation and anarchy.
Ms Phiri stated that the party is saddened at how the opposition leader could have their own Security Officers outside Hichilema’s Vehicle side by side and yet the window to President Lungu’s Vehicle was wide open without a single office on the door side.
“Why was the window to the President’s Car open? The road was very narrow but HH’s Car had Security outside his Car, how come as per normal procedure under those circumstances, the Presidential vehicle was not accorded the protection it deserves?” asked the PF DSG.
“We have been guided by a qualified Doctor at the Chainama mental health that Hakainde Hichilema is suffering from metal disorder. We will not give room to Hakainde to destroy this Country” she added.
And LUAPULA Province PF Chairperson Nickson Chilangwa has charged that UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema should be considered as a danger to national security following his provocative stunt in Mongu.
Mr. Chilangwa who is also Luapula Province Minister said Mr. Hichilema’s refusal to give way to President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade on Saturday posed a security risk to the Presidency.
He said Mr. Hichilema had insulted the Presidency which was a depository of the country’s pride and values.
Mr. Chilangwa said what Mr. Hichilema did bordered on national security and should not be taken lightly as it had consequences.
Mr. Chilangwa said Mr. Hichilema’s behavior had proved that he was a politician who had no respect for the office he was wishing to occupy.
“For now Zambians must treat [Mr] Hichilema as a danger to national security because of his provocative behavior. What kind of democracy is Hichilema practising if he can’t respect the highest office in the land? What happened in Mongu should be stopped immediately, ” Mr. Chilangwa charged.
He warned that if nothing happened to control Mr. Hichilema’s behavior, national security would be put at greater risk.
“Hichilema is pushing his luck too far by by attempting to block President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade and consequences will be too ghastly for him to contemplate. We can’t tolerate it any more. Enough is enough, ” He warned.
Zambeef captures nations heart with family festival
Thousands of revellers joined the nation’s largest food processor, Zambeef, to celebrate food, football and music on Saturday (April 8) at the company’s Zamfest extravaganza in Lusaka.
There was fun for all ages and interests, with families enjoying food stalls, a ‘ZamShoka’ Best Braai competition, kid’s activity park and entertainment that culminated in the evening’s music sessions, headlined by iconic African musician Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi taking to the stage to the thrill of the audience at the Showgrounds.
Tuku’s leading act was backed by the country’s hottest music artists, including Pompi, Cactus Agony, Maureen Lilanda, Willz and Sebastian Dutch among others. Festival goers enjoyed plenty of laughs with comedians K-Star and Kapembwa on the ground.
“Food and drink are a part of every important moment and celebration in our lives and this time is no different. Zambeef brought together the things that are close to our hearts such as football, food, music, family and fun all wrapped in one eventful day. well,” said Zambeef Joint Chief Executive Officer Dr Carl Irwin.
On the sporting front, in a surprise upset the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) team scored 1-0 against a professional team led by AFCON 2012 star and former National team Captain Christopher Katongo in a friendly match.
The football element sprung from the launch of the e18hteam DVD supported by Zambeef, which chronicles the nation’s love of soccer and captures the passion, excitement and national pride of the Zambian football team, and charts the fortunes of the national Chipolopolo team – from the lows of the 1993 Gabon air crash to the highs of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) victory.
The e18hteam documentary is the work of producer, Ngosa Chungu and Spanish writer, director and co-producer Juan Rodriguez-Briso towards which Zambeef invested K1.5 million in support. The DVDs are now on sale at Zambeef outlets countrywide.
Zambeef has a long association with football. Its Zamleather division makes the popular Kaleza Z-12 model leather soccer boots, the first to be locally designed and manufactured in Zambia. Zamleather is also home to the Alive & Kicking employment-generation project that manufacturers quality leather soccer balls that carry health messages and are distributed to under-privileged teams nationwide.
Throughout its history Zambeef has supported a number of football teams playing in leagues and at community level, and has groomed footballers at the grassroots including AFCON 2012 squad member James Chamanga.
President Lungu at Kuomboka traditional Ceremony in Pictures
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Nalikwanda at Lealui Palace
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African NGOs urge Zambian Govt to support ICC
Zambia should reaffirm its membership in the International Criminal Court to best advance justice for victims of atrocities, a group of African organizations and international nongovernmental organizations with a presence in Africa said today.
Zambia’s government began public consultations on the country’s ICC membership the week of March 27, 2017.
This was in response to the African Union summit’s adoption in January of an “ICC withdrawal strategy.”
An unprecedented 16 countries, including Zambia, entered reservations to this decision.
“Zambia has much to gain by staying with the ICC,” said Boniface Cheembe, executive director of Zambia’s Southern Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes.
“Zambia has been a role model on the continent in matters of peace, democracy, and human rights. Leaving the ICC would erode the country’s leadership and threaten respect for the rights of victims of the most brutal crimes across Africa.”
The organizations, which have long worked together to support justice for grave crimes in Africa, also released an updated video featuring African activists on the importance of the ICC in Africa.
As a member of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Zambia has a proud history in the establishment of the ICC, the organizations said. SADC was active in the diplomatic conference in Rome in 1998 where the ICC’s treaty was finalized after six weeks of negotiations. SADC members developed 10 principles for an effective, independent, and impartial court at a meeting in Pretoria in 1997.
The ICC is a groundbreaking achievement in the fight against impunity, the organizations said. It is the first and only global criminal court that can prosecute individuals responsible for atrocities. It is a court of last resort in that it has the authority to try genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed since 2002, but only when national courts are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute. Since the court’s treaty opened for signature in 1998, 124 countries have become members.
Zambia signed the ICC’s Rome treaty on July 17, 1998, the day it opened for signature, and ratified the treaty on November 13, 2000.
The ICC faces many challenges in meeting the expectations of victims of mass atrocities and member countries, the organizations said. Its inability to reach crimes committed in some powerful countries and their allies is a cause for deep concern, even as claims that the ICC is targeting Africa are not supported by the facts.
The court’s reach is limited to crimes committed on the territories of countries that have joined the court or offered the court authority on its territory, absent a referral by the United Nations Security Council.
“The ICC has room for improvement, but it offers hope to victims who have nowhere else to turn for justice,” said Deva Mavhinga, Southern Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. “The court serves African victims who have suffered atrocities.”
The majority of ICC investigations in Africa have arisen in response to requests or grants of authority by governments in the countries where the crimes were committed – as in Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Uganda – or through referrals by the UN Security Council – as in Darfur, Sudan and Libya.
The ICC has faced backlash from some African leaders since it issued arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur in 2009 and 2010.
In 2016, evidence of the backlash reached new heights when South Africa, Burundi, and Gambia announced they would withdraw from the court, the first countries to take such action.
Gambia has rescinded its withdrawal and South Africa is also re-examining withdrawal, making Burundi the only country to have maintained its withdrawal. Under the ICC Statute, withdrawal goes into effect one year after the state party submits a notification to the UN Secretary-General.
In the wake of the announced withdrawals, many African countries – including Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Tunisia – have affirmed their commitment to remain in the ICC and to work for any reform as ICC members.
“We would encourage Zambia to reaffirm its support for the court, particularly in the absence of any functioning regional criminal court that can hold perpetrators to account,” said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, Executive Director, Southern Africa Litigation Centre. “Zambia’s moves to reconsider its ICC membership raise concern.”
The groups expressing support for Zambia’s continued ICC membership are:
Africa Legal Aid
Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability–Ghana
Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law–Sierra Leone
Centre for Democratic Development–Ghana
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (Malawi)
Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (Nigeria)
Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme
Human Rights Watch
JEYAX Development and Training (South Africa)
Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Nigerian Coalition for the ICC
Parliamentarians for Global Action
Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Zambia)
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (South Africa)
Transnational Threats and International Crime Division of the Institute for Security Studies.
Zambian student commits suicide at Parul University in India
A second year engineering student from Zambia studying in Waghodia-based Parul University India committed suicide at international hostel building of the varsity on Saturday evening.
The deceased identified as Jite Sakala (22), tied himself with the bedsheet to a ceiling fan in the common room of the international hostel.
On seeing Sakala tied to the ceiling fan, other foreign students informed university authorities.
The university officials informed the police about the incident.
Police said that Sakala has left a suicide note behind but refused to share details of the suicide note. Sources in the police department said that prima facie it looks that Sakala was suffering from depression and that is the reason why he committed suicide.
The police, after taking his body in custody, sent it to primary health centres in Waghodia for post-mortem.
Cops have informed Sakala’s parents and the Zambian Embassy in India about the incident.
Police registered a case of accidental death in the incident.
The Judiciary is the weakest Link in Zambia’s Democracy
Commentary on the strides Zambia has made in growing our democracy is mixed and it seems impossible for any Zambian to accept views without bias. Many claim that our democracy has gone to the dogs and we are “banana republic”, yet many still claim Zambia is one of the most democratic state in Africa probably second only to Botswana. The truth is that we have grown as a democracy from the Zambia of the 90’s and have the potential to surpass even the first world.
Now, Democracy has many players and aspects and in order to grow the is a need for all players to be in sink. The main players are the GOVERNMENT, the PEOPLE, the PRESS and the CIVIL SOCIETY. By design democracy begins with the PEOPLE. That’s perhaps the reason why, even with similar laws, no two countries have the same kind of democracy. You see, people’s cultures and norms are different from one country to another and therefore they will not enjoy the same laws equally. The CIVIL SOCIETY and the PRESS are the watchdogs that fight to ensure the PEOPLE’S interests are always at the center of running a democratic government. The GOVERNMENT forms another important part of democracy and it is divided into three main arms which have very separate roles which should however work together. In the next few weeks I will right some articles with my opinion of how these different players in the Zambian democratic dispensation have performed to get us to the level we now are.
To begin with I wish to state that I have complete faith in our growth as a democratic state. We may not be there yet but we will definitely get there. I will start with the Government and the Judiciary in particular.
The Judiciary
This is the most important link in a democratic system. A strong, Just, Corrupt free judiciary ensures that everyone in the state is operating within the law. It protests citizens from the executive, from business and vice versa. Business will not only invest in our country because they like our policies but also because they are confident that judicial process will protect them should they have disputes. Believe me; no matter how sweet investment policies sound the really big investors will not go into a country where the rule of law is not paramount. With a weak and corrupt Judiciary you get only cowboy investors who are by nature risk takers and are comfortable with corruption.
The Zambian judiciary is far from FAIR and JUST. It’s so rigged with corruption that you see judges receiving bribes in public places. Some judges will send their secretaries or even fellow judges to collect ‘gwagu’. What a shame. I am only an Opinion writer but I challenge any investigative journalist or indeed the anti-corruption commission to go to the courts and pretend they have a problem and need “help with the judge”. You will be shocked how many middlemen you will find ready to connect you to one judge or another. The most sickening is the ease with which lawyers can bribe these judges. Often the best lawyer means the most connected. Right now in Zambia justice is for sale to the highest bidders.
As if to balance things, when a case is brought to them and there is no “briber” they get excessive in sentencing. So the poor suffer. I once read of a case where a lorry boy was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by a judge in Ndola. When passing Judgment he said and I quote “I find you guilty because facts show that you had sufficient opportunity to commit the crime”. This seemed all circumstantial to me unless the article was badly written and failed to show the main evidence relied upon by the judge. Of course the lorry boy will rot in jail because he could not afford to appeal. George Mpombo Junior, who gruesomely murders and decapitates his expectant girlfriend, gets 10 years. Where is the Justice there.
Yes we have a corrupt Judiciary. The Judiciary is also Political or may I say too Political. Yes Judges are humans and will always have political opinions but those opinions should not reach the bench. What we have now are Judges that are either PF or UPND and its easy to see this in their rulings. Yes the Judiciary in Zambia is the weakest link in our democracy.
Our hope is the Law Association of Zambia but in their current state they are hopeless. They clearly have an agenda and it is ‘anti Lungu’. While they have made some valuable contribution at times they have at many times shown such shameless bias against the current government that some quarters of the society want them disbanded. The hiring of a private lawyer to defend the Nchitos reeks of personal agenda. On a lighter note; it was funny to see LAZ seeking protection and respect of the public order act. It would have been so bold of them to tell the police to back off and let the demonstrators continue with their right to assembly. After all that is always their stance.
In conclusion, I would like to say that it is sad that law is not a definite science otherwise we could replace all the judges with computers or robots which would make the Judiciary just at all times. So we are left with this same generation of crooked and corrupt Judiciary which is self-serving at best. My appeal to the Judges, Lawyers and all personnel in the judiciary is -Change. You are holding the country’s democratic process backwards and history will judge you harshly if you don’t head this call. I also wish to encourage and applaud the few honest Judges and lawyers who give us hope. You are the true heroes our democracy needs and while no heroes songs will be sung of you. History will remember you.
By Andrew Kapya
State House announces postponement of President Lungu’s visit to Egypt
The President will undertake the visit later in the year.
Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba told the press that President Edgar Lungu is this week expected to travel to Egypt for a State visit from 11th to 13th April, 2017 following an invitation from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sis.
Mr. Kalaba said that the two heads of state woukd discuss a wide range of regional and global issues including ways to mitigate climate change.
The Minister said that other issues to be discussed included cooperation on peace and security and mutually beneficial investment opportunities.
Mr. Kalaba also disclosed that Zambia and Egypt would sign four memorandum of Understanding, in the field of tourism, Sport and Youth, Health and Pharmaceuticals and Radio and Television Union.
Last night, Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi announced a three-month state of emergency after attacks on two Coptic churches that left at least 44 dead.
The measure allows authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people’s homes. It needs to be approved by parliament before it is implemented.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the blasts in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for bombing two Egyptian churches as worshippers gathered to mark Palm Sunday, killing at least 44 people in the deadliest attacks on the Coptic Christian minority in recent memory.
The attacks followed a Cairo church bombing in December and came weeks ahead of a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis intended to show support for the country’s Christian minority.
What Does God Look Like?: Questions from the Movie “The Shack”.
By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.Professor of Sociology
A strange small sickly brown dog emerged from nowhere and chased a group of children who were happily playing in my home village in Lundazi in the Eastern part of Zambia in Southern Africa. This was fifty-one years ago. The little sickly dog nipped one of the kids in the butt through his shorts as they fled. The tooth scratch was so small that the boy did not bother to report it to my parents. On June 15 1966, my 8 year old younger brother died a horrible death of rabies in my mother’s arms at the local clinic. The rabies medicine was there but my brother had been brought to the clinic too late. Had the bite been reported to my parents, they would have brought him to the clinic immediately about four weeks earlier? It was a tragedy for me and my family.
Life and Death
The twins of life and death in all their mysteries and especially the terrifying finality and irreversibility of death have shadowed human beings for thousands of years. As humans we have toyed around the edges of life and death. We have used technology to destroy and alter life. We have post ponded death where possible through use of medicine. As humans we have a tremendous sense of triumph, reckless bravado and sometimes hubris as we feel we are conquering the frontiers of knowledge about life and death. Although we celebrate the joy life gives us, but what we may consider unjustified or untimely death still terrifies, puzzles, frustrates, and humbles us. Our belief in God as the omnipotent power and creator has helped us to cope with and make some sense of these two mysteries that always shadow our lives.
Amidst all this mystery, what really drives us into deep seething anger that makes us question and sometimes in extreme cases dismiss God, is when tragedies happen to us or to any people we consider innocent.
Human Tragedies
Buried in our deep pain of tragedy we ask what kind of God will let the deadly war go on in Syria including the gassing of children and other civilians. Millions of people are fleeing the Middle East and North Africa as refugees heading to Europe. Many are drowning trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Why did God allow the First and Second Wars to happen in which millions perished? Why did God allow NAZI Germany, Hitler to even be born to gas 6 million Jews? Why did God allow Stalin to kill 20 million innocent Soviet citizens? What kind of God let the Atlantic Slave Trade happen during which Europeans used mind boggling brutality to forcibly bring 10 million Africans in chains to North America, the Caribbean Islands and South America?
European colonialism in Africa and elsewhere under the guise of “The White Man’s Burden” brought untold suffering and death on the continent. Thousands died in Belgian Congo and one Nelson Mandela sacrificed 27 years in jail to end the racist Apartheid policy in South Africa. What kind of God lets innocent children become victims of cancer? Evil so overwhelms us in society that when we live very humble, clean, hard working lives filled with our strong beliefs in God, we exhibit righteous anger when evil and tragedy strikes us. We angrily ask, “Why me Lord? But I am your most faithful servant!”
The Movie: “The Shack.”
Philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, and others have tried to grapple with these questions. The issue was the center of a heated public debate in the 1980s such that Rabbi Kushner wrote the book: “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”. Recently I watched the Hollywood movie: “The Shack”. When I arrived at the theatre, I was surprised to see so many older people in the audience. That puzzled me as I am not a movie buff and had just impulsively picked the movie because I did not have anything better to do. This is one of the very few movies that have made me think of so much after leaving the theater.
The movie addresses the very serious issue that many of us painfully grapple with in our own personal lives. When a tragedy happens to a good innocent person, is God to blame for having permitted the tragedy to happen? The movie made me ask for a millionth time: “Why did God allow my brother to die? Was God to blame? Should the owner of the rabid dog been hanged?” My parents never lost their faith in God and continued to be loyal and devoted Christians up to this day in their nineties still living in the village.
Is God Human?
The way God is portrayed in the movie “The Shack” made me come to one conclusion: for hundreds of years since the advent of Jesus Christ, the entire Christian faith has been wrong to portray God and Jesus in any human images. In fact God himself in the Bible says: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” is one of the Bible’s Ten Commandments. Although I like or was comfortable with the way God is ultimately portrayed in the movie, that portrayal should not happen in the first place. Humanizing images of God, Jesus Christ, his mother Mary, and spiritual husband Joseph have created serious weaknesses, human biases, and distortions in the Christian faith. It is because of this human folly that for hundreds of years since the rise of statues and later the ability to make hundreds and now millions of photo images, Christ has been wrongly Whitened and Europeanized. This folly may have alienated millions of followers and potential Christian believers who are non-white or non-European. This may also create idolatry and vanity of worshiping their skin color among European believers and non-believers perhaps wrongly assuming that Jesus was white or European as understood today. It is also in this vein that some of the Christian missionaries abused Christianity for selfish ends during European colonialism in Africa and elsewhere. Some of these abuses may go on among some Christian believers today.
God and Jesus today
Even the current CNN special “Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery” about Jesus and Christian history and other religious beliefs is victim of and perpetuates this folly as they portray Jesus’s history using images humans create. Do we really know that people during that era of Jesus Christ thought of people as “white”, “black”, “brown” or “Asian” or whatever physical categories of human we have created today in the presence of the deep racism Europeans created? All these images of God, Jesus, and other figures in Christian faith should never be humanized in any way.
UPND denies blocking President Lungu’s Motorcade
United party for National Development (UPND) has denied reports that they had blocked the motorcade carrying Republican President Edgar Lungu during the Kuomboka ceremony over the weekend.
In a statement released to the media last night, UPND Spokesperson Charles Kakoma said that UPND President Hakainde Hichilema’s Motorcade would have courteously given way to the motorcade carrying President Lungu had we seen it coming.
Mr Kakoma was reacting to Patriotic Front Deputy Secretary general Mumbi Phiri who has asked the police to give guidance on the crime committed by the opposition UPND in Mongu when they blocked President Edgar Lungu’s Presidential motorcade.
Mrs Phiri said that it was sad that the opposition UPND leadership would endanger the life of President Lungu by obstructing his motorcade.
Mrs Phiri said that it was unfortunate that the UPND resorted to obstruct the way, which she has described as an act of lawlessness.
The PF Deputy Secretary General said that it was important for the opposition to accept defeat because it is clear that the people of Zambia voted for the PF looking at statistics in the last general elections
Below is the full statememt released my Mr Kakoma
PRESS RELEASE
9/04/17
WE NEVER BLOCKED LUNGU’S MOTORCADE
______________________________
We would have courteously given way to the motorcade carrying Edgar Lungu had we seen it coming.
Assertions that we opted to drive side by side with the motorcade that was carrying Lungu are not a true reflection of what transpired.
We are a law abiding party and we do understand the rules of road usage.
We cannot put the lives of innocent people in the line of danger over who has the right of way.
As you can see from the pictures, we were driving in a convey of vehicles and without warning we just saw state vehicles overtaking us at a very high speed.
Only when they passed us did we notice that it was Edgar Lungu’s motorcade.
We couldn’t make an abrupt stop considering that we were also in a motorcade.
Doing so would have caused an accident of unimaginable proportions that would have resulted in the injuries or death of some of our members.
We wish to make it clear here that we are not in a childish or petty competition with Edgar Lungu.
We will gladly give way if notified but in this case we were also caught unaware.
As you can see from the pictures we were on the left lane meaning the cars carrying Edgar Lungu were the ones doing the overtaking.
Our vehicles actually slowed down and others even attempted to stop so as to pave way amid the confusion.
None of our vehicles attempted to block the motorcade but instead kept to the left lane giving Edgar Lungu’s motorcade enough space to over take us.
We are just thankful to God that nobody was hurt in the process. We feel the police should have conducted themselves in a professional manner to send an advance party to clear the road to ensure that all road users were guaranteed of a safe passage.
It’s strange that there were no sweeping vehicles or police motor bikes with sirens to warn us there was a motorcade coming behind us.
Charles Kakoma
UPND SPOKESPERSON
Saileti bemoans Nkana’s slow start
Coach Zeddy Saileti has bemoaned Nkana’s low-key start to the 2017 FAZ Super Division season.
Nkana kicked off the league campaign with a frustrating 1-1 home draw against Nakambala Leopards on Saturday at Nkana Stadium in Kitwe.
In a post-match interview, Saileti said Nkana must improve their performance.
“Drawing at home for us it is like losing. I think it wasn’t a good result. This is not a good performance today. Playing at home we needed to be aggressive,” Saileti said.
The coach believes his players underrated Nakambala in the Week One tie.
“I think we underrated them. In due course they gained confidence and started playing well. We gave them a lot of space and made things difficulty for ourselves,” Saileti said.
Nkana next travel to Chingola to face bruised Nchanga Rangers who lost 3-0 at Napsa Stars on Saturday.
“We have to go back to the drawing board. We need to work hard and do better in the next game,” Saileti said.
Zesco keep 2017 Confederation Cup group stage dreams alive
Chibuzor Madu put the Nigerian champions ahead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute before Osas Okoro added the second in the 46th minute.
But defender David Owino put Zesco back in the race in the 72nd minute to score his second goal so far in the competition.
Striker Patrick Kongolo then made a dream debut when he scored the vital equaliser in the 76th minute.
A 0-0 home draw will suffice for Zesco at home on April 15 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola to see them through to May’s group stage of the competition.
Sundays draw also saw Zesco end their away jinx against Nigerian sides where they had lost on their last two previous visits to Kano Pillars and Warri Wolves.
Song bird Wezi and singer Mumba Yachi split
Popular afro soul song bird Victoria Mhone, a.k.a Wezi and folk singer Mumba Yachi has split a year after going public about their relationship.
Rumours of the breakup have been circulating on the local entertainment scene but Mumba Yachi took to social media to confirm the break up in an emotional post on his Facebook page.
“Every Era has got an END. It is that time in our-story we have to take a bow and continue with our separate ways. I am proud of knowing you and the ART we produced together. Those who insulted me because I was with you, can now have their champagne. Like PRINCE I can say;” I never meant to cause you any sorrow…baby I can never steal you from another” … I will always respect you Wezi. God bless you. UMUNG’O.”
And Wezi responded by wishing Mumba long life.
Posting on her Facebook page hours after Mumba had broken the news, the soulful singer said, “Gravity happened. Life at its full display, the downward pull… what goes up must surely come down.”
She added, “As the haters celebrate and bloggers start to blog. The audience that demanded their truth, there you have it. I hope it’s everything you wanted & so much more. Remember that the end of an error is the beginning of a new one. We will always be the thieves that stole from each other, Umungo. Long live the king Mumba Yachi.”
Rumours surfaced early this year that Wezi was cheating on Mumba with her Producer Zondiwe Kekero Mutanula.
It is reported that Kekero who is the original composer of the famous track ‘Anajaila’ by Tiye-P which was remade by a three some of Zambian musicians including Wezi has been hitting on Wezi in the absence of Mumba.
In March 2016, Wezi admitted that Mumba Yachi is 100 per cent her soul mate.
She said she will not argue but agree openly that she is in a stable relationship with the music star and that he is her soul mate.
Wezi was responding to comments that had been pouring in on social media that the two make an unattractive couple.
Mumba had pronounced his love for Wezi on International Women’s day in 2016 as a way of appreciating his woman, but it seemed not to have worked for the music star.
One Facebook blogger, Brian Ngoma wrote that the couple was the real definition of ‘ugly’.
In response to this comment, Wezi said “if we are a real definition of ugly to some people, then my mind is set for him because his heart is beautiful, which is more important to me.”
She explained that originally, she did not want to put tags on her relationship but this is blowing out of proportion because she is an artiste and dating a fellow artiste.
The talented soulful singer, who hit the music scene with her incredible amazing voice, said regardless of the current situation about her relationship with Mumba, she still loves him and is going ahead with the relationship.
“I do not believe that am at the stage where am dating for fun, if am in a relationship then it means am ready to see it all the way,” she said.
She said she could not be bruised easily and that the comments would not in any way change things for her.
“The way I grew up in Ndola I can assure you that few things make me cry and this one is not special to change me now,” she said.
Lusaka Dynamos deny Power Dynamos win, Buffaloes go top
Power Dynamos failed to kill off Lusaka Dynamos on Sunday despite coming from two-down at half time to finish 3-3 at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.
Power looked down and out at halftime after Chris Mugalu and Cletus Chama put Dynamos 2-0 at halftime ahead in the 31st and 40th minutes respectively.
But Power hit back with two quickfire goals in the 54th minute through Godfrey Ngwenya and Fwayo Tembo in the 55th minute while Martin Phiri scored the third in the 73rd minute.
However, Dynamos had the last say when Godfrey Chibangu headed-in a dramatic stoppage time equalizer against the run of play to record the fifth draw in Week 1 of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Green Buffaloes join Napsa Stars at the top FAZ Super Division log after a 3-0 win over Mighty Mufulira Wanderers.
Napsa also won 3-0 on Saturday to take the overnight lead into Sunday.
Wayne Museba put Buffaloes ahead with an own-goal in the 14th minute before Mike Katiba punished his ex-club with the second goal in the 35th minute.
Diamond Chikwekwe put the result beyond doubt in the 75th.