On 5 January 2019, a 34-year old citizen was forced to flee Zambia after members of the governing Patriotic Front (PF) threatened to kill him. His crime? He composed and released a song with references to a rat that enters a home, eats all the food in the pot and steals everything else including what...

'Day by day, we seem to be left with a people who are embryos of themselves; people who never grow out of themselves. They dream and never work their dreams, hold visions and never live them – frightened at failure and scared to venture out. People after sound opinions of others; looking to be forever...

On 9 April 2020, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), Zambia’s broadcasting regulator, cancelled the broadcasting licence of Prime TV, the country’s most popular and leading independent television station, established eight years ago. In a letter to Prime TV Executive Director Gerald Shawa, IBA Board Secretary and Director General, Josephine Mapoma, stated that the action has...

On 13 March 2020, the Judiciary’s Acting Chief Registrar, Prince Boniface Mwiinga, announced that prominent constitutional law expert John Sangwa would no longer be allowed to appear before any court in Zambia. In a notice to all judges of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Registrars and Magistrates, Mwiinga stated that...

On 23 February 2020, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano appeared on Sunday Interview, a Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation television programme hosted by Grevazio Zulu every Sunday evening that typically consists of an in-depth, one-on-one 60-minute interview with a prominent guest. Zambians who had hoped that Nshindano would use the platform...

On 4 February 2020, the government, through the Labour Commissioner, cancelled the Recognition Agreement between the University of Zambia Lecturers’ and Researchers’ Union (UNZALARU) and the Council of the University of Zambia (UNZA), sometimes referred to as UNZA Management. The Agreement is the marriage certificate that confirms the formal relationship between an employer (in this...

In contrast to the shortage of authentic, consistent heroes in public life, Zambia had a huge surplus of disappointing individuals and institutions in 2019, as the competition for uninspiring conduct grew even fiercer. Indeed, such is the surplus that if we are really serious about diversifying and resuscitating Zambia’s ailing economy, we will do well...

Across 2019, Zambia experienced no shortage of disappointments and setbacks. Yet there are some individuals whose courage and principles made them inspiring figures in the political landscape. In this and the next article, I list two sets of citizens of 2019: those who through their actions offered hope to Zambians and those who were huge...

Ordinarily, I do not respond to reactions to my articles that make no attempt whatsoever to engage with the substance of my writing. I believe that ad hominems, however well presented, are not arguments.  The Patriotic Front (PF) media director Sunday Chanda’s reply to my article, ‘Lungu should cut his term of office, not the...

A few days ago, President Edgar Lungu announced a 15 to 20 per cent reduction on his salary and the salaries of both cabinet ministers and the chief executives of parastatal companies. Lungu further directed the Secretary to Cabinet to extend the measure to top-earning non-unionised civil servants, which, in effect, means all workers in...