Zambia Media Critique

Zambians blame his advisors for the diplomatic blunder but state blames it on interference from a Zambian opposition leader President Edgar Lungu’s attempt to dialogue with leading South African opposition party leaders Mmusi Maimane and Julius Malema   on the sidelines of the SADC summit in South Africa backfired terribly, sparking a heated debate on a diplomatic blunder that should never have being. The two opposition leaders from South Africa were vocal in criticizing President Lungu on the arrest and detention of his main rival on treason charges, a matter that has since been discontinued by the state. Zambian High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba announced that the Zambian President had summoned the two leaders over their continued interference in Zambian politics. The background to this call for dialogue stems from among other incidents, Maimane’s attempt to attend a court session for the Zambian opposition leader and show solidarity and lobby for his...

State releases incarcerated opposition leader and commits to Commonwealth brokered dialogue By Bruce Chooma – Lusaka Zambia’s leading opposition figure Hakainde Hichilema and his co-accused walked to freedom on Wednesday 16 th August, 2017 after the state entered a nolle prosequi   in the matter in which they were charged with treason.   His release came after the President of the United Party for National Development (UPND) spent four months in maximum remand prison in conditions described as dehumanizing. Zambia’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Lillian Siyuni on Wednesday morning filed a ‘nolle prosequi’ in the case where Hichilema and five others were supposed to stand trial. The accused party had pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges. A ‘nolle prosequi’ application is an entry in the court record to the effect that the plaintiff or prosecutor will not proceed. The decision to drop the charges had been reported earlier by Reuters news agency citing an...

Zambia’s leading opposition political party, United Party for National Development (UPND) has continued to receive a bashing from the Patriotic Front government with the church and civil society raising alarm at what they describe as an accelerated move towards a dictatorship. Zambia now has a situation where the president of the main opposition party is in indefinite detention and where there is effectively no opposition party in the National Assembly. The Party’s President Hakainde Hichilema remains incarcerated on charges of treason after his motorcade allegedly blocked President Lungu’s motorcade as they both drove to a traditional ceremony in western Zambia. Hichilema was recently committed to the High Court and forcefully airlifted from Lusaka Central Prison to a maximum remand prison in Central Zambia. The prison is famous for housing dangerous hard core criminals and inmates on death row. His lawyers lamented that they could no longer guarantee his safety and his wife a...

Incarcerated UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema waves at supporters when he appeared at court before being taken back to prison …as pressure mounts on Zambia to address deteriorating political environment On 10 th April, 2017, Zambia Police undertook a night invasion of the house of leading opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema. The Police switched off power at the house, blocked the main roads and then broke down the gates to the house to gain access to the house before firing teargas into the house. The night long raid ended the following morning when he was finally apprehended and taken out and later slapped with a treason charge among others. His arrest came amidst Hichilema’s continued insistence that he would not recognize Lungu as duly President of Zambia because the Courts failed to hear his petition against his election in 2016. At his instigation, UPND Members of Parliament have also made it a habit to stay away from Parlia...

 The Catholic Church today issued an important statement on the political situation in Zambia through its Council of Bishops. The church has made important pronouncements on the state of our nation. On the judiciary the bishops observe: “For some time now, there has been a persistent discourse on the state of the judiciary in Zambia with respect to its independence and impartiality. This situation has undermined public confidence in this institution. There is need to restore confidence in this important arm of Government. There are also many unresolved questions of public interest that have been left hanging and unanswered by the Executive.”3 Where is the Judiciary to call the Executive to attention?  Here below is their full statement: IF YOU WANT PEACE, WORK FOR JUSTICE (Paul VI)  “Let Justice flow, … down like a river that never dries …”  (Amos 5:24)  Statement on the Current Political Situation in Zambia   To all Catholic faithful an...

AFRICAN politicians long abandoned the idea of servant-hood. As famous Kenyan Law Professor Patrick Lumumba recently observed, in Africa, the shortest route to ill-gotten wealth is political leadership. Examples abound across the continent of Africa of how poor citizens continue to cough blood to sustain the lavish lifestyles of politicians. How much are these our new masters’ worth? Is it fair that the highest paid politicians in the world should be coming from some of the poorest regions of the world? According to Professor Patrick Lumumba, almost all the people who move into politics in Africa do so with ill-intents to loot the coffers of the state and perpetuate their stay in office. Speaking at the 11th series of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial lectures at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana Prof Lumumba questioned the behaviour and the motives of politicians on the African continent.   "If you want to get wealth without working for it at all join African politi...