ZAMBIAN former deputy finance minister Newton N’guni said on Thursday that he has been arrested and charged with defaming President Frederick Chiluba. “They summoned me to the police sometime in the afternoon, where they recorded a ‘warn and caution’ statement from me. They then charged me with defaming Chiluba,” N’guni said. His arrest came barely a week after another ex-minister, Edith Nawakwi, was charged for the same offence after she allegedly accused Chiluba of being a thief. According to N’guni, he was arrested in connection with a front-page story in Zambia’s only private daily Thursday, quoting him saying Chiluba has stolen a lot of money from the state coffers. N’guni is among those Chiluba purged from government in May for opposing his bid to seek an unconstitutional third term, an effort he dropped after massive protests in Lusaka. More than one third of Zambian lawmakers have filed a petition in parliament, asking the speaker to allow a motion aimed at impeaching Chiluba from office on grounds that he had committed serious criminal offences. – AFP