Zambia Weekly
In this issue
In this issue
Zambians shun rural areas
The trade deficit that disappeared
Stiffer penalties for pollution
New railway to Namibia
Quotes
Another drug shortage
Advert: Book: The Father of Andromeda
The confusion at ECZ
Mahtani arrested - again
Is Sata a bad employer?
Listing and de-listing on LuSE
Don’t provoke us!
Editor’s note
It has become a regular feature to read
about how Chinese investments in Zam-
bia continue growing. This week it was
revealed that trade between Zambia and
China exceeded 2.2 billion US dollars
in 2010. These articles are usually ac-
companied by a bit about how great it is
that China is showing such an interest in
Zambia – and how this will make Zambia’s
economy grow even more. The other day,
however, I spent quite a long time queuing
in a government agency. Ahead of me in
the queue were four immaculately dressed
men whom soon got engrossed in some
serious bashing of – the Chinese. “They are
even pushing out the Indians,” exclaimed
one, while another cackled about his –
Chinese – shoes labelled “for ornamental
use”. The consensus was that the Chinese
are taking over – and it’s not good! I am
not the one to judge whether Chinese
investments are beneficial to Zambia –
overall – when one considers more than
economic growth and include issues such
as governance, environment and labour
conditions. The latter are all areas where
the Chinese have been criticised. But if the
government believes Chinese investments
are good, it is doing a bad job at convinc-
ing its voters of the same. It is not enough
to simply praise the growing figures for
Chinese trade, investment, mines, com-
panies, etc. Someone should also try to
explain how these figures translate into
better lives for everybody in Zambia.
Week 5, Volume 2, Issue 5, 4 February 2011
Zambians shun rural areas
Preliminary results of the 2010 census of
1 population and housing indicate that the
1
population of Zambia has increased from
9,885,771 in 2000 to 13,046,508 (Times/
2 Daily Mail 28). Central Statistical Office
(CSO) acting director John Kalumbi
2
said a comprehensive preliminary report
2 would be disseminated to the public soon.
3 Of the total population, 61 percent
(7,978,274) live in rural areas while 39
3
percent (5,068,234) live in urban areas.
4
Lusaka Province has now surpassed the
5 Copperbelt Province in housing the largest section of the population with 2,198,996 people,
followed by Copperbelt (1,958,623), Northern (1,759,600), Eastern (1,707,731), Southern
6
(1,606,793), Luapula (958,976), Western (881,524), and, finally, North-Western Province
6 with 706,462 people.
7 An economic commentator, Oliver Saasa, said there is no need for government and other
stakeholders to worry about the increase in population: “The population recorded is within
the capacity of the economy to manage” (Sunday Mail).
He did however point out that the population is unevenly distributed. To counter urban mi-
gration, Saasa advised the government to invest in rural infrastructure to spur more develop-
ment in these areas: “Many people are shunning rural areas because of lack of infrastructure
but I still believe that we can take people to rural areas where they can be productive. We
must ensure that we put the right people in right places because right now the rural areas are
depleted of energetic people,” he said.
The results also show that there were 6,069,753 eligible voters at the end of 2010, equivalent
to 47 percent of the Zambian population, with Lusaka Province sitting on the highest share
of voters at 19 percent and North-Western Province at the smallest share at 5 percent.
The trade deficit that disappeared
Zambia recorded a trade surplus of more than 840 billion kwacha in December 2010
bringing the annual trade balance to almost 9 trillion kwacha (Times 28). Central
Statistical Office acting director John Kalumbi explained that “[s]ince January last year,
the country has had monthly trade surpluses with the highest valued at 1.14 trillion
kwacha in March 2010”. In October 2010, however, Kalumbi – himself – reported a
trade deficit of 451.5 billion kwacha due to the 45-day shutdown at Indeni Petroleum
Refinery, which resulted in increased importation of oil products. Back then he further
explained that continued appreciation of the kwacha against major convertible cur-
rencies also negatively impacted on the country’s trade balance in October as export
earnings dropped (Post/Times/Daily Mail 26 November).
Inflation continues to rise
The annual inflation rate has increased from 7.9 percent in December 2010 to 9.0
percent in January 2011. The Central Statistical Office attributed the rise to increases
in the cost of both food (accounting for 2.6 percentage points) and non-food items
(accounting for 6.4 percentage points). This was the second month the inflation was
rising since it hit an all-time low of 7.1 percent in November 2010 (Daily Mail/Post/
Times 28).
The best of the Zambian media 1
 Zambia Weekly News

Stiffer penalties for pollution Quotes

The government intends to in-
troduce stiffer penalties for envi-
ronmental pollution. Minister of
Tourism, Environment and Natural
Resources Catherine Namugala
“ I feel the dissolution of Cabinet and
Parliament would make it easier to curb
the misuse of resources by the party in

”
explained that the government has power.
presented to parliament the Envi-
ronmental Management Bill, which MMD MP Sylvia Masebo (Post 28).
will repeal the current Environmen-
tal Protection and Pollution Control Act. “The Bill will give powers to the authority to punish,
fine or even jail the directors of companies found polluting the environment,” said Namugala,
who observed that mining firms were polluting the environment frequently because the cur-
“ Do not be cheated by these boys. Wait,
concentrate on your education because
it is the only key. These boys will cheat
rent law was not strong enough (Times 28). Konkola Copper Mines recently polluted the you and once your breasts are flat, they
Kafue River with mining effluent – for the third time. will not even look at you. Be educated
and you will find a better man who will

”
take good care of you.
Zambia is being rebranded Deputy Minister of Education, Boniface
Kawimbe, to girls at Kankumba Basic
Zambia is being rebranded to make it more appealing to international tourists. Minister of School in Rufunsa (Post 28).
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources Catherine Namugala said Zambia needs to be
repositioned as a tourist destination of choice through the rebranding of the tourism product.
An international slogan and logo competition has therefore been launched to replace “Zambia
– the real Africa” which has been used for 31 years (Daily Mail 29). “ It is not the government that is creat-
ing these jobs. They are being created
by the private sector. The duty of my
government is to facilitate the creation

New railway to Namibia of these jobs by ensuring that the

private sector thrives so that, in return,
they create more and more jobs for our

”
The government has signed an agreement with a South African consortium, Epinsan, for a people.
feasibility study on the construction of a 1,000-kilometre railway from Solwezi in North-
Western Province through Mongu in Western Province into Namibia. Communications President Banda during the launch of
and Transport Minister Geoffrey Lungwangwa said the railway will assist in prolonging the the micro, small and medium-sized en-
life-span of roads in the country. Many roads buckle prematurely due to the burden of heavy terprises development policy (Post 29).
equipment such as mining machinery. The 4 million US dollars feasibility study will start this
month and conclude in February 2012 (Daily Mail/Times/Post 3).
“ What we know is that there are irregu-

”
larities in any election.
FORMER Inter-African Network
FIGURES: TAZARA for Human Rights and Development
(Afronet) executive director Ng’ande
TAZARA transported a total of 552,505 tonnes of goods in 2010 against a budgeted Mwanajiti – who has led several election
target of 651,408 tonnes – the best performance the last 18 years as it represented 84.8% observer missions in Africa and other
of budget goal and a 20.4% increase from 2009 (TAZARA managing director Akasham- parts of the world (Times 31).
batwa Mbikusita-Lewanika in Post 29).

“ There was no sitting provincial chair-

man who was asked to step down. But
among the competitors, there were

Much more than news! times when we had to stop others so

that we don’t rock the boat. If some-
one was chairman for five years and
Zambia Weekly produces (write, edit, design and photograph) all all of a sudden, somebody appears on
types of publications: from brochures to posters, from press the scene trying to take over when the
releases to newsletters, from technical reports to books. party is organised and things are going
well, is that in order? (...) that does not
Contact Camilla Hebo Buus if you or your company needs assistance!

”
mean we are being undemocratic.
(cell 0977 461 877, cabuus@zambia-weekly.com)
MMD chairperson for elections Mike

Zambia Weekly
Mulongoti – again – refuting allegations
that MMD’s provincial conferences were
undemocratic (Daily Mail 31).

The best of the Zambian media 2

 Zambia Weekly News

Another drug shortage?

Zambia is once again embroiled in a debate about drug shortage. This A p e rs o na l a cco un t
followed the government’s decision to ration anti-retrovirals (ARVs)
to two-week dosages from the usual three to six months (Daily Mail/ o f t he fa i l ure
Times 29). “Why give some [people] drugs for six months while oth-
ers do not have? It is better we give two weeks to all while we await o f f o re i g n a i d i n Z a mb i a
the consignment,” said Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Peter
Mwaba, and assured that the consignment would arrive by mid-
February. Early in the week, he refuted that Zambia was experiencing
a shortage of TB drugs (Daily Mail 29), but later he said the shortage
of the first-line treatment drug Streptomycin was a global problem
(Times 3). The rationing of ARVs is according to Mwaba caused by
a delay by the Global Fund to deliver the drugs, which led MP Jean
Kapata (PF), who is also the chairperson of the Parliamentary Com-
mittee on Health, to ask the government to fund drug programmes
instead of relying on donors (Post 31). The Health Workers Union of
Zambia however claimed the drug shortage is caused by some distri-
bution officers who steal the ARVs to resell them on the black market
– all in order to create an artificial drug shortage in a bid to discredit
the MMD government (Daily Mail 3).

Bailiffs pounce on innocent tenants

Bailiffs from the sheriff ’s office in Ndola have grabbed property worth
millions of kwacha belonging to Ndola Central MP Mark Mushili.
The latter had failed to meet the repayment obligations on a 539, 000
US dollar loan from Leasing Finance. This, however, affected Mushili
less than his evicted tenants. The Bailiffs seized a block of flats on
Cross Crescent in Kansenshi, Prime Time Lodge and some Marks
Motorways buses. One of the tenants, Enny Njovu, said the eviction
was unfair because as legal tenants they should have been given time
to remove their belongings from the flats (Times 28). Mushili was
last year convicted to 120 hours of community work for attempting to buy it now!
swindle government of over 300 million kwacha.

Organic certification needed
Zambia is losing about 120 million US dollars in foreign exchange
earnings every year due to non-certification of organic honey, rice,
pineapples and groundnuts (Daily Mail 3). A market survey from the
Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia has found
that Zambia’s organic production is too insignificant to tap into the
high demand for the four crops in the regional and European mar-
kets. OPPAZ consultant Abraham Makano said small-scale farmers
fail to pay the certification fee of 7,000 euro (50 million kwacha).
t he fat he r o f a ndro m e d a
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The book is based on personal letters from Dixon Kelvin
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The best of the Zambian media 3

 Zambia Weekly This week’s controversy

ECZ: Forget about getting to the bottom of things – at least for now!
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission
of Zambia (ECZ), Justice Florence Mumba, has
resigned (Times 28). Yet her resignation has only
intensified the debacle about the integrity of the
commission.
Mumba stepped down on 27 January after ECZ
workers went on strike on 24 January to demand
for her resignation and for the reinstatement of
former ECZ director Dan Kalale – who was fired
by Mumba for undisclosed reasons on 21 January.
Kalale claimed he was dismissed because he had ex-
posed a scam in which Mumba had single-sourced
the international firm KPMG for a confidential
audit at a cost of 708 million kwacha – in breach
of tender procedures. But “well-placed government
sources” challenged him to tell the public the real reason why he was
fired – and pointed out that the ECZ had “evaded” being audited by
the Auditor General in both 2009 and 2010 (Post 28).
A long list of irregularities
When choosing KPMG, Mumba had sent a memo to Kalale to
explain that “[i]n order to support the restructured commission, there
is need to review our finance systems in order to curb unauthorised
practices in our office as well as district offices manned by the officials
over whom the commission has no direct control” (Times 31).
But Kalale claimed that the single-sourcing of KPMG went against
tender procedures – and he was supported by the Auditor General,
whom called the move “grossly irregular”. But why, asked Transpar-
ency International Zambia (TIZ), did the Auditor General fail to
mention other irregularities at the ECZ such as lack of financial
statements and annual reports – as pointed out by the Auditor
General herself years ago? These breaches of the law happened during
Kalale’s tenure of office, said TIZ president Reuben
Lifuka (Post 1).
The contract with KPMG was actually not signed
by Mumba but by two ECZ commissioners, Judge
Esau Chulu and Joseph Jalasi. This lead the strik-
ing workers, who went back to work after Mumba’s
resignation – in time for the upcoming parliamen-
tary by-election in Mporokoso on 3 March, assured
ECZ spokesperson, Cris Akufuna (Times 1) – to
give Chulu, Jalasi and the two other commissioners a
seven-day ultimatum to resign, failure to which they
would resume their strike (Daily Mail 1).
Sata and Banda... and their letters
Mumba said she had done nothing wrong in engag-
ing KPMG – and invited the Anti-Corruption
Commission to conduct a thorough investigation of the ECZ – but
nevertheless later chose to resign to “maintain peace”. President
Banda stated he had “reluctantly accepted” Mumba’s resignation
(Daily Mail 28).
Ha, retorted the opposition! In a letter to Banda, the Patriotic Front
president, Michael Sata, claimed “the ECZ debacle is being or-
chestrated by your government for its ultimate benefit” in this year’s
elections (Post 29). He pointed out that Kalale – who has been with
the ECZ for 20 years (Daily Mail 29) – also is a relative of Vice-
President George Kunda.
Nonsense, said Banda! In a letter to Sata he stated he found the lat-
ter’s allegations “not only ridiculous but preposterous”: “My gov-
ernment has had absolutely no hand at what has been going on at
the ECZ” (Post 1). And Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie
Shikapwasha emphasised that the ECZ director is appointed by the
ECZ chairperson – not by the government (Sunday Times/Mail).

ECZ - according to the editorials:

The Post - 28 January:
It is very difficult for anyone to deny that
justice Mumba is one of the very well re-
spected and outstanding professionals that
our country has produced. She has excelled
in her profession as a lawyer, and particular-
ly as a judge. It seems to us that she found
herself in a cesspool of corruption and
abuse of public resources and offices at the
Electoral Commission. Her efforts to clean
up have galvanised significant resistance
that is being openly supported by the gov-
ernment. In a paradoxical way, people like
justice Mumba should draw comfort from
the lack of support by this government.
Sunday Mail:
Recent events at the ECZ make sad
reading; especially that Zambia is head-
ing towards (...) elections. This is why the
president has, but reluctantly, accepted the
ECZ chairperson Justice Florence Mumba’s
decision to resign. Justice Florence Mumba
resigned on her own volition without any
influence from government and, therefore,
accusing people in government of interfer-
ence without any proof is unfortunate. For
those opposition politicians that used to cry
foul during previous elections, we hope that
they will find comfort with changes that
might occur at ECZ and seek other excuses
for their losses in elections.
The Times - 29 January:
Zambia has been known for its orderly
conduct of elections and the events that
have characterised the elections body
should not be used to undermine the efforts
that the government and other stakehold-
ers are making to make sure that successful
polls are held. We remain confident that an
isolated incident such as the confusion at
the elections body will not undermine the
resources – human and financial –that have
continually been invested to ensure Zambia
maintains the top slot as a respecter of
democracy and good governance through
the holding of credible elections.

The best of the Zambian media 4

 Zambia Weekly This week’s controversy
ECZ continued...
Who guard the guards?
Maybe, said Alliance for Democracy and Development president
Charles Milupi, but it’s a known fact that the controlling officer at the
ECZ is the director and not the chairperson (Post 31). More non-
sense, replied Banda: Under the law the chairperson is the “recognised
full-time head of the ECZ”.
Very well, replied Sata – in yet another letter to Banda (Post 2). “Let
me remind you that you presently have two commissioners in the
ECZ who were both rejected during the process of ratification by
the major opposition political parties but whom you proceeded to
appoint.”
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said it had launched
separate investigations of both Mumba and Kalale – having received
a complaint from both of them against the other. The aim is to help
people understand what is happening at ECZ – before this year’s gen-
eral elections – explained ACC director general Godfrey Kayukwa.
Several people called for the government to set up an independent
committee or commission of inquiry to investigate the ECZ (Times
2). The government said it is looking for “the right candidate” to take
over from Mumba – before the coming by-elections (Daily Mail 3).
ECZ is short of money
Government has released 15 billion kwacha to the Electoral
Commission of Zambia for various programmes under the
voter registration exercise (Daily Mail/Times 1). This came
about at the same time as electoral officers involved in the
exercise threatened to go on strike if they were not paid their
outstanding allowances. The officers were last paid in full in
September 2010 (Sunday Post). ECZ acting director Priscilla
Isaacs confirmed that the government owes the ECZ 92 billion
kwacha in unpaid allowances (Daily Mail 2) – but Secretary
to the Treasury Likolo Ndalamei said the government would
release part of the allowances this month. The 15 billion kwacha
is in addition to the 101 billion kwacha released for the voter
registration exercise between January and December 2010.
Mahtani arrested – again
A joint investigations team of the Drug Enforcement Com-
mission (DEC) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has
arrested Rahjan Mahtani – again (Times/Daily Mail 28). This
time the chairperson of Mahtani Group of Companies has been
arrested for having fraudulently acquired 58 percent of fully
paid-up shares worth 580 million kwacha in one of his compa-
nies, Zambezi Portland Cement. He was arrested together with
two others. Mahtani is facing other charges of money launder-
ing activities involving more than 80 billion kwacha in connec-
tion with Finance Bank Zambia Limited and Clavada Mining
Company. The DEC has initiated a total of four cases against
Mahtani in a little more than one year and “DEC sources”
called it an “orchestrated scheme” by the government (Post 28).
Last week’s controversies
MMD in crisis?
After Deputy Minister of Works and Supply Lameck Mangani
(MMD) last week got castigated for having a “suspect” meet-
ing with Judith Kapijimpanga, who recently defected from the
MMD to the Patriotic Front (PF), he wrote an exculpatory
letter to the MMD leadership.
According to a “State House source”, who read the letter, it does
not reveal anything new about the meeting (Post 31). Mangani
explains – once again – that he considers Kapijimpanga as his
sister and that they had discussed why she had not confided in
Mangani before her defection.
Of more interest is the source’s claim that Mangani warns
Banda he has been misled to believe he will win this year’s elec-
tions without any problems.
Outrageous, said MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya (Daily Mail/
Post 1). “We have never felt so strong as a party, going by the
number of people who are trying hard to join the MMD, the
number of opposition members who are coming back to the
MMD and the accolades we continue to receive from within
and outside Zambia,” she said.
Mangani expressed shock at the leakage of a confidential letter –
and said the Post newspaper had selected a few paragraphs from
a comprehensive letter that was meant to guide the ruling party
as it strategised for the 2011 elections (Times 1).
LCC land scam to be thoroughly investigated
The land scam at the Lusaka City Council (LCC) found an-
other victim this week: Patriotic Front (PF) Spokesperson and
Kabwata MP Given Lubinda. The government and several of
its supportive NGOs told Lubinda to step down as chairman
of African Network of Parliamentarians Against Corruption –
considering that he is a LCC councillor by virtue of his position
as Kabwata MP (Daily Mail 3).
Last week, the LCC was suspended, after the council had al-
located 91 plots in Lilayi to its councillors, mayor and other
staff members – without first advertising the plots or seeking
ministerial authority. The PF called the suspension “politically
motivated”, although PF Secretary General – and former Lu-
saka Town Clerk – Wynter Kabimba admitted that the PF had
“some bad eggs” as councillors. He did however demand that all
– and not only PF – councils should be audited (Times 29).
No problem, said President Banda: Let them come forward
and tell us the local authorities involved. (...) I will not shield
anybody either in MMD or otherwise” (Daily Mail 29). MMD
acting national secretary Chembe Nyangu challenged Lubinda
to reveal how many plots he had received since he became Kab-
wata MP in 2006.
The Anti-Corruption Commission instituted investigations into
the land scam and government appointed a team of auditors
to be part of the investigations (Daily Mail/Times 2). Lubinda
maintained his party did not breach any legislation (Times 3).
The best of the Zambian media 5
 Zambia Weekly News
Is Sata a bad employer?
Former employee of Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata,
Kelvin Phiri, has demanded 12 million kwacha in terminal benefits
after having resigned in October 2010. According to Phiri he had
started out as a caretaker in November 2006, but later “I doubled as
his driver and personal bodyguard, which was a very risky job”. He
claimed he was forced to resign due to threats from Sata and his fam-
ily – who eventually sent PF cadres to evict him from the servant’s
quarters. Sata said he had not refused to pay Phiri – but he is waiting
for him to explain how he arrived at the figure of 12 million kwacha.
Phiri, who claimed he was not the first person Sata has dismissed in
ignominious circumstances, reported the matter to the office of the
Labour Commissioner (Sunday Mail and Daily Mail 1).
Kelvin Phiri is not finished with Sata!
Not only did Kelvin Phiri claim Sata was a bad employer (see above)
– he also accused Sata of borrowing money from businesspeople in
return for favours if he wins this year’s elections (Daily Mail 1). Phiri
said that as Sata’s driver he had on several occasions collected money
from various individuals of Greek and Lebanese origin – and that the
money would be so much that sometimes it had to be carried in boxes.
He was backed by former PF Secretary General Edward Mumbi
(Times 2), but Sata challenged both of them to produce “a list of
which people I owe money” (Times 3). Not so fast, said Mumbi, first
explain the 27,000 US dollars which Sata had confiscated in South
Africa in 2010. According to Mumbi the money is payment for an il-
legal land transaction. According to Sata it is payment for consultancy
services (Daily Mail 2). Sata threatened to sue the Daily Mail reporter
who wrote the story and to prosecute Phiri for criminal defamation.
FIGURES: Grade 9 pass rate
46.8% of the 256,749 who sat for the grade 9 examinations in
2010 have been selected to Grade 10, posting an improvement
in the pass rate from 45.8% in 2009 (Ministry of Education in
Daily Mail/Times 28).
Pray for Zambia!
Christians from various denominations
have converged in Lusaka to pray for peace
as Zambia heads towards this year’s general
elections. The group of Christians calling
themselves “The Body of Christ” say they
have decided to fast and pray for seven
months to raise the cry for peace and unity
in Zambia. Group spokesperson Kathryn
Mwondela said the prayers are for God’s
intervention to keep Zambia a peaceful
country. She said leaders should be prayed for so they make decisions
that benefit the people they lead. The United Church of Zambia, the
Catholics, Assemblies of God and the Bible Gospel of Zambia are
among the churches taking part in the prayers (Sunday Mail).
Business in brief
Airtel hit by forex losses and rebranding costs
Bharti Airtel has reported a 41 percent decline in its consoli-
dated net income at 286 million US dollars (Rs 1,303.3 crore)
for the quarter ended 31 December 2010. Adverse currency
movements in India and Africa resulting in losses of 33 million
US dollars and the one-time rebranding costs of 75 million
US dollars are the main factors. Total revenue, however, rose
by 51.14 percent to 3.5 billion US dollars (Rs 15,756 crore)
quarter-on-quarter - with revenue from African operations ris-
ing 8.7 percent to 911 million US dollars (Times 3).
LuSE had a good 2010
The Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) closed last year on an im-
pressive note with turnover rising to 961.5 billion kwacha from
224.6 billion kwacha in 2009. A total of 1,419,662,009 shares
were transacted in 7,610 trades – with Airtel accounting for a
good part of this. LuSE’s all share index, which measures per-
formance of stocks on the stock exchange, rose steadily during
the year from 2,628.22 points in January to 3,3303.92 points in
December 2010 (Daily Mail 28).
BP to delist from LuSE?
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has
authorised the acquisition of BP Africa’s 75 percent sharehold-
ing in BP Zambia by Puma Energy Holdings Limited of Ire-
land (Times 28). Last week, concerns were raised about whether
BP – similar to Airtel – would de-list on the Lusaka Stock
Exchange if the majority of minority shareholders chooses to
sell their shares to Puma (Daily Mail 24).
MTN to list on LuSE
The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Au-
thority has given MTN Zambia permission to issue 7.8 percent
shares to the public by 2014. MTN Managing Director Farhad
Khan said 2.2 percent shares have already been taken up by
institutional investors, but the company is mandated to float up
to 10 percent shares on the local bourse (Daily Mail 31).
MTN localises its debt
MTN Zambia has signed a syndicated loan facility agreement
with a consortium of five local banks worth about 600 billion
kwacha. MTN will use the funds for debt consolidation and
conversion of the same into local currency to eliminate exchange
rate risks (Daily Mail 28).
Game Stores is becoming American
The Competition Consumer and Protection Commission has
authorised Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation of the USA to
acquire 51 percent share capital of Massmart Holdings Limited
of South Africa, including its subsidiary Game Stores Zambia
(Daily Mail 28). Wal-Mart’s acquisition is part of its plan to
expand in Africa ahead of its international competitors.
The best of the Zambian media 6
 Zambia Weekly News
Don’t provoke us!
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing, Moses Mu-
teteka has warned that outsiders must respect the original inhabitants
of Lusaka. “[I]f you provoke the Lenjes and the Solis here in the
capital city, you may not even settle here properly. We are also people
who can be upset,” said Muteteka, himself a “pure Lenje” – with refer-
ence to a proposed development of the burial site for senior headman
Mwalusaka, after whom Lusaka is named. Mwalusaka and his people
were inhabitants of an area covering present-day National Assembly,
Manda Hill and Olympia Park. As Lusaka developed, Mwalusaka
villagers were relocated, but the graveyard of Mwalusaka and some of
his people were preserved. Over the years, several skeletons have been
excavated at the site and in 2008, the National Heritage Conservation
Commission signed a lease agreement with Chita Lodge to develop
the area. This infuriated the Lenje, who want the burial site to remain
sacred (Post 1).
Are Nkoyas unsocial people?
Unknown people are circulating flyers in Kaoma demanding that non-
Nkoya-speaking people leave the district. Chief Government Spokes-
person Ronnie Shikapwasha, who is also Minister of Information and
Broadcasting Services, has warned that the law will take its course.
Other than the Nkoya, Kaoma District is home to the Luchazi, Lu-
vale, Lunda, Chokwe and Mbunda among others (Daily Mail 2).
FIGURES: Gender-based violence
The Zambia Police recorded nearly 8,500 cases of gender-based
violence in 2010, up from about 8,000 cases in 2009. Of the
total cases, 704 were convicted in court while 215 were acquitted
(Victim Support Unit in Daily Mail 29).
New head of the EU
The European Union has appointed Gilles Hervio as Head of Delega-
tion in Zambia to replace Derek Fee. Before his appointment, Hervio,
a French national, served for four years as EU Ambassador to Senegal,
Cape Verde and the Gambia with residence in Senegal (Post 28).
Rex Natala has died
Veteran politician Rex Natala has died. President Banda led hundreds
of mourners including several politicians and traditional leaders at
Natala’s burial in Mazabuka. Natala served as Bweengwa MP and ini-
tiated the United Party for National Development. Natala, who died
of pneumonia, is survived by wife Mutinta, four children and several
grand children (Sunday Mail and Daily Mail/Times 31).
Illegal export of timber
Seven trucks have been impounded at Chirundu border for trying to
export unprocessed timber. Tourism, Environment and Natural Re-
sources Minister Catherine Namugala said the law did not allow the
export of raw timber. Namugala assured the law will take its course.
The trucks belong to a Chinese company (Times 28).
Deaths in brief
Cop to hang for murder
The Lusaka High Court has sentenced a police officer to
death by hanging for murder. The particulars of the offence
were that Victor Chimuka, who was based at Lusaka’s Chi-
bolya police post, together with other unknown people mur-
dered Stephen Kawina five years ago. Supreme Court judge
Gregory Phiri, sitting as a High Court judge, said Kawina was
not involved in any crime or any other matter worth police
attention, and there was no report before any police station of
a crime or suspected criminal when Chimuka shot and killed
Kawina – in the presence of his wife (Daily Mail 3).
Murderer gets death sentence
Lusaka High Court has sentenced Isaac Zimba Mtonga of
Zakeyo village in chief Kapichila’s area in Lundazi District
to death by hanging for aggravated robbery. In January 2010,
Mtonga together with other unknown people stabbed and
murdered, Kamlesh Misra, a 57-year-old woman of Asian
origin - and got away with 200 million kwacha. Following
Misra’s death, Mtonga fled to Lundazi and subsequently Ma-
lawi – where he spent a lot of money lavishly. Mtonga, who
used to do temporary jobs for Misra, claimed the money was
accumulated from his business (Daily Mail 27 and Post 28).
Prison breaker beaten to death
A remandee at Chipata’s Namuseche Prison, Harrison
Ngoma, has been beaten to death in Mchini Compound
when prison warders were pursuing a group of prison break-
ers. Prisons Service Public Relations Officer Daniel Chiwela
explained that one convict and four remandees had escaped
from the prison: Two of them were recaptured nearby, two
others ran away but the last one who crossed into Mchini
“was fatally beaten and subsequently pronounced dead at the
hospital,” Chiwela said. The group escaped after jumping off
the prison’s wire fences (Sunday Post).
Zambia Weekly
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