Lusaka

Zambia’s government has backtracked on its earlier ban of popular rallies by controversial opposition leader Michael Sata on security grounds, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwashya said on Saturday. The minister said Sata and any other opposition leaders are free to hold public rallies.

Zambia’s chief opposition leader Michael Sata, a vocal critic of the Southern African country’s president, has been arrested and charged with false declaration of assets, an opposition party official said on Tuesday. Police confirmed the arrest but gave no further details.

The Red Cross Society in Zambia warned on Tuesday that half the country’s youth risk dying of HIV/Aids as it launched a -million appeal to finance a scale-up of its fight against HIV. According to UNAids statistics 1,1-million Zambians out of the population of 11-million are living with the virus.

Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba arrived in South Africa on Friday for medical treatment after a court overturned a decision by President Levy Mwanawasa to block Chiluba’s wife from travelling with him. Chiluba briefly spoke to journalists before leaving Lusaka airport, where an intelligence source said he held a 20-minute closed-door meeting with a Libyan diplomat.

A haunting tune plays from a radio at a crowded flea market behind Zambia’s main business district, accompanied by a baritone voice urging Africa to rise up against Aids. ”That’s KK, it’s very nice, very moving,” a trader says of the song released by Zambia’s former president Kenneth Kaunda.

The Zambian government has overturned a police ban on planned nationwide rallies by the main opposition party, the country’s solicitor general said on Wednesday. Sunday Nkonde said the police had no powers to stop the rallies due to be addressed by Patriotic Party leader Michael Sata, who lost to President Levy Mwanawasa in recent elections.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has directed his government to immediately send his corruption-tainted predecessor Frederick Chiluba for cardiac treatment in South Africa, Chiluba’s spokesperson said on Monday. Mwanawasa authorised Chiluba to travel for treatment after his doctors said his cardiac condition had deteriorated and a heart transplant is now being considered.

Zambia blocked former president Frederick Chiluba from seeking medical treatment in South Africa on Tuesday on suspicion he might not return home, where he is on trial for graft, a senior intelligence source said. Chiluba (64) was told he could not leave despite a Lusaka court order that he should be evacuated for a medical review.

Zambia’s ailing former president Frederick Chiluba was due in South Africa on Monday to receive treatment for an acute heart condition. Chiluba was expected to leave Zambia in the afternoon for Johannesburg where he will undergo medical examinations following his deteriorating health caused by a cardiac complication.

The Zambian government has appealed to the supreme court to allow the deportation of a British writer who has been accused of defaming President Levy Mwanawasa, an official said on Wednesday. The government initially ordered that Roy Clarke be deported after he called Mwanawasa ”Mawelewele” or a ‘fool’.

Zambia’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition by two death-row inmates who sought the abolition of capital punishment on the grounds that it went against ”Christian values”. ”The courts in this country have no powers to abolish the death penalty because they do not have power to legislate,” the Supreme Court said in a judgement passed late on Monday.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa pledged to deliver on pre-election promises on Friday to slash taxes and combat poverty in his maiden speech to MPs since being returned for a second term a month ago. Mwanawasa also announced sweeping policy changes to address grievances levelled by his chief rival, main opposition leader Michael Sata.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela’s lawyer has been accused of profiting from corruption proceeds involving Zambian ex-leader Frederick Chiluba, court documents obtained by Agence France-Presse showed on Wednesday.

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.

Opposition leader Michael Sata’s threat to run a rival system of government after losing last month’s national elections was branded as treasonous on Monday by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. ”What Sata is saying is treason. Let him not push his luck too far. I will sort him out,” Mwanawasa said while unveiling a new Cabinet for his second and final term.

South Africa winger Sibusiso Zuma has put club before country and refused to play in Sunday’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Zambia in Lusaka, officials confirmed on Saturday. Zuma has told caretaker coach Pitso Mosimane he is unavailable and wants to concentrate on establishing his place at German Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld.

Zambia’s main opposition party on Friday mounted its first challenge to the government after losing general elections on September 28, which it claims were rigged, by insisting it had the authority to clear land deeds. The Patriotic Front of veteran opposition leader Michael Sata, who was beaten by President Levy Mwanawasa in the presidential election, said it would exert its authority.

Zambian opposition chief Michael Sata, defeated in disputed national elections, positioned himself at the head of a ”people’s government” on Wednesday with plans to slash taxes in councils run by his party. Patriotic Front leader Sata was forced to accept defeat in his quest to become the country’s president when incumbent Levy Mwanawasa was sworn in for a second term.

President Levy Mwanawasa urged his rivals to join him in fighting Zambia’s deep-rooted poverty on Tuesday as he took office for a final term after disputed elections that sparked a wave of opposition riots. Mwanawasa underscored the need for a united front in reversing the fortunes of one of Africa’s most impoverished countries at a swearing-in ceremony.

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.

Zambia’s outgoing president Levy Mwanawasa took the lead as vote counting continued after general and presidential elections, but opposition leader Michael Sata disputed some results, citing ”irregularities”. Latest figures issued for the presidential vote by the Electoral Commission of Zambia late on Saturday showed Mwanawasa with 510 523 votes ahead of Sata with 473 332.

Polling booths began to close in Zambia at 6pm local time on Thursday at the end of a general election in which President Levy Mwanawasa is seeking a second and final term of office, organisers said. A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission of Zambia said people who were queueing outside voting stations at the official close of voting would still be able to cast their ballot.

Zambia went to the polls on Thursday to elect a new president after a razor-tight race pitting the internationally respected incumbent against a fiery populist who has promised to give impoverished Zambians a bigger share of their nation’s copper riches. Voters began gathering well before dawn and stood patiently outside polling stations in downtown Lusaka, slowly filing in as voting officially began after 6am.

The main contenders in Zambia’s general election made a final pitch for support on Wednesday with President Levy Mwanawasa urging voters to reject the ”fantasy” of his populist challenger Michael Sata. On the eve of the ballot, the state of the economy continued to dominate debate with Sata accusing Mwanawasa of turning Zambia into the poor relation of Southern Africa.