Having fled the spiralling post-election violence in his native Zimbabwe, Given Sithole never imagined he would now be fearing for his life in what he saw as the safety of neighbouring South Africa. With tears dripping from his swollen right eye, Sithole recounts how he was caught in recent xenophobic attacks in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg.
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/ 22 January 2008
Jerry Mweemba, an 82-year-old farmer, stoically chews on his pipe as he surveys the line of grass-thatched huts waist-high in brown rainwater in Zambia’s impoverished Mazabuka region. ”Initially, we thought it was the usual rains until we realised that water was entering into our homes,” says Mweemba from under the shade of a large acacia tree.
Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe was given a hero’s welcome on Thursday at the opening of a Southern African summit set to be dominated by international concerns over his country’s meltdown. The embattled octogenarian leader received thunderous applause as he walked into the summit of the Southern African Development Community.
Southern African leaders will probably not be able to find a solution to the meltdown in Zimbabwe at their summit meeting in Zambia later this week, and will probably dabble only in diplomatic matters, analysts predict. Few expect concrete results from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state gathering that starts in Lusaka on Thursday.
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/ 4 February 2007
Chinese President Hu Jintao unveiled a package of investment and debt relief as he brought his Africa tour to Zambia, a visit clouded by tensions and high security amid anti-Chinese sentiment. A planned trip to a Chinese-run copper mine in the north was cancelled after reports of demonstrations being planned.
Zambia is in the midst of record economic growth but political squabbles and the Southern African nation’s failure to tackle endemic poverty have taken off some of the sheen, analysts say. Multimillion-dollar contracts are pouring in, but most Zambians are preoccupied with the political jousting between President Levy Mwanawasa and main opposition leader Michael Sata.
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/ 19 December 2006
Zambia, normally one of Africa’s most stable countries, is facing unprecedented turbulence as opposition leader Michael Sata turns up the heat on the government only weeks after losing a general election. With tens of thousands of followers attending rallies of Sata, also known as "King Cobra", observers fear it is only a matter of time before simmering tensions boil over.
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/ 23 October 2006
Zambia is planning to invite foreign firms to conduct exploratory drills for oil and gas after the first-ever reserves were found near the border with Angola, the government said on Monday. Samples taken at a dozen sites in the north-western provinces of Zambezi and Chavuma over the weekend confirmed gas and oil residues in the impoverished Southern African country.
Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata appealed for calm on Monday after his supporters went on a rampage when presidential election results showed incumbent Levy Mwanwanasa on the verge of victory. Troop reinforcements were sent into slum areas of Lusaka on Sunday night after supporters of Sata’s Patriotic Front rioted and set fire to a police station, a supermarket and vehicles.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa was re-elected as leader of his ruling party, results showed on Friday, winning the lion’s share of votes at a stormy party convention that set the stage for next year’s elections. Mwanawasa (58) beat his only rival, former vice-president Enock Kavindele, by a wide margin.