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/ 13 February 2004
Low wages and unemployment, coupled with high taxes, have forced thousands of qualified Zambians to flee the country in search of greener pastures — but President Levy Mwanawasa is calling them "coward failures". "They failed to make the grade here and have gone to exhibit their inefficiencies outside," he said.
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/ 11 February 2004
Media organisations in Zambia are staging a five-day campaign this week to lobby for the proposed Freedom of Information Bill to be brought before the current session of Parliament. This follows government claims that the law needs to be revised.
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/ 26 January 2004
Placard-carrying sympathisers of popular tabloid columnist Roy Clarke and government supporters clashed outside Lusaka’s High Court on Monday as Clarke appeared in a case in which he is contesting a government deportation order. Additional police had to be posted throughout the court grounds.
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/ 18 January 2004
Human rights activists in Zambia scored another victory recently when they got Parliament to outlaw corporal punishment in the country. Legal Affairs Minister George Kunda said corporal punishment went against constitutional provisions. But not all teachers are happy with the ruling.
Zambia’s government has issued a warrant for the arrest of a British writer who was ordered to quit the country for ”insulting” President Levy Mwanawasa in his weekly newspaper column. ”All security agents in the country have been ordered to look for Roy Clarke and immediately detain him pending his deportation,” a senior police officer said.
Why a British expat is being deported
A Zambian court has temporarily blocked the deportation of a British writer who was to be deported for allegedly insulting President Levy Mwanawasa in his newspaper column. Lawyer Patrick Matibini said he obtained a ”a stay of execution order” on Monday night from the Lusaka high court after he filed an application.
Zambia has given a British journalist one day to leave the country for ”insulting” President Levy Mwanawasa in his weekly column in a private newspaper, Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha told a group of Mwanawasa’s supporters who marched on the interior ministry to demand Clarke’s deportation.
Zambia intends to deport a British writer for allegedly ”insulting” President Levy Mwanawasa in his popular weekly column in a private newspaper, an official said on Monday.
White Zimbabwean farmers who sought refuge in Zambia, have helped the country pull out of a crippling food shortage that saw millions of people relying on food aid last season. The landowners were forced off their properties in Zimbabwe during the fast-track land reform programme that began in 2000.
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/ 29 December 2003
Lightning hit a church in Zambia over the weekend, killing one worshipper and injuring several others, a police spokesperson said on Monday. The sermon at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the capital was about to start on Saturday when it was struck by a lightning bolt.
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/ 26 December 2003
Four people died and several others were injured in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Christmas after more than 100 houses collapsed following torrential rain, state-run media reported on Friday. Police sources quoted in the Times of Zambia said the collapses occurred in two teeming shantytowns in the city.
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/ 18 December 2003
Zambia’s Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed death sentences for 44 soldiers for their role in a failed 1997 military coup, but ruled that 10 others will not have to hang. Under Zambian law, the president has the final say on whether the death penalty should be carried out in each case.
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/ 17 December 2003
Six people have died from cholera and another 165 are reported to be in a serious condition as the disease sweeps through Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. It appears that local authorities have been caught flat-footed by the outbreak. They are now engaged in a frantic bid to contain the disease.
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/ 9 December 2003
The trial of former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba, charged with stealing millions of dollars from state coffers, opened in Lusaka on Tuesday, but was adjourned until Wednesday. Chiluba and his six co-accused are faced with 169 charges of theft, corruption and abuse of power involving more than -million.
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/ 3 December 2003
About 80% of Zambian wives find it acceptable to be beaten by their husbands ”as a form of chastisement”, according to the latest Zambia Demographic Health Survey. Out of 5 029 women interviewed countrywide, 79% said they should be beaten if they went out without their husband’s permission.
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/ 26 November 2003
A passenger boat capsized on Lake Mweru on Zambia’s northern border with Congo, killing 26 people and leaving 14 missing, officials said on Wednesday. The boat was sailing in rough weather on Monday afternoon when the accident happened, police spokesperson Brenda Muntemba said.
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/ 20 November 2003
Zambia’s Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday launched a scathing attack on President Levy Mwanawasa’s government over the way the country’s new constitution is being developed. The church demanded that the new constitution be adopted by a conference rather than by Parliament.
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/ 13 November 2003
The demand for anti-Aids drugs far outstrips supply in many African countries. But, Zambia appears to be an exception to this rule — at first glance. People are not visiting clinics to get access to anti-retrovirals. However, the Zambian government and Aids groups disagree on the reasons behind this.
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/ 23 October 2003
Martin Mubanga’s parents have changed his schools twice this year, because his class got too large, 15 pupils. ”What’s the point of sending your child to an expensive school if it’s going to be crowded,” says his mother Elizabeth.
Zambia’s former director of intelligence Xavier Chungu has been re-arrested only hours after he was freed from jail by a court that cleared him of theft charges. He was picked up on Wednesday from his home by police officers who detained him at a police station before he was released on police bond.
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/ 29 September 2003
Growing numbers of girls in poverty-stricken Zambia are being raped by men who believe that having sex with minors can cure HIV/Aids. Just about every day police in this southern African country record one incident of child rape. An estimated one in five people here test positive for HIV, the virus which causes Aids.
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/ 18 September 2003
The death toll in a ferry tragedy at the Zambia-Namibia-Botswana border rose to 18 on Thursday, after more bodies from the ill-fated pontoon were pulled out of the Zambezi river by rescue teams. The ferry sank on Wednesday after an overweight South African truck caused it to tilt over.
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/ 18 September 2003
Violent clashes between ruling and opposition party supporters in Zambia have marred the campaign on the eve of crucial parliamentary by-elections. The ruling party and opposition supporters traded blows and stones after accusing each other of trying to rig the vote ahead of Thursday’s voting in four constituencies.
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/ 17 September 2003
A former economic adviser to Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba and a former minister have been arrested for alleged corruption. Former minister Daniel Kapapa is also Chiluba’s in-law. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa last year launched a massive anti-corruption drive that has led to several arrests.
Zambia’s parliament voted against opposition attempts to impeach President Levy Mwanawasa over allegations of violating the constitution and ”gross misconduct”.
Zambian lawmakers were on Tuesday scheduled to debate an opposition motion aimed at impeaching President Levy Mwanawasa for allegedly violating the constitution.
Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba was charged on Tuesday with stealing -million of public funds and committing dozens of other offences while in office, police said.
The main opposition parties in Zambia on Thursday continued their walkout from Parliament, vowing to pursue protests against what they have claimed is the unconstitutional appointment of Vice President Nevers Mumba.
Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was being grilled by police on Wednesday over allegations that he stole millions of dollars in state funds during his 10-year reign in the southern African country.
Zambian lawmakers were to begin debate on Tuesday on a controversial motion to impeach President Levy Mwanawasa for violating the Constitution by appointing a vice president they say is unqualified.
A top official from Zambia’s largest opposition party has been arrested and charged with receiving stolen state property, the second in a week, police said Monday.
Zambia’s biggest opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND) has expelled two senior officials for alleged insubordination, a party spokesperson said on Monday.