Zambia

Zambia’s corruption-tainted former president Frederick Chiluba collapsed on Thursday and has been admitted to hospital, his spokesperson said. Chiluba, who is suffering from an acute cardiac complication, collapsed at his house in the morning, Emmanuel Mwamba said.

A British judge on Friday ordered former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba and 19 others to pay back -million they stole from the Southern African country’s Treasury. Judge Peter Smith, speaking live via satellite link from London, said he ordered that Chiluba and his associates must pay 85% of the stolen funds to Zambian authorities within 14 days.

A South African national has been arrested in Zambia for allegedly insulting and making disparaging remarks about President Levy Mwanawasa to fellow miners, an official said on Monday. Brandon Childs (22) was arrested last week after some Zambians he was working with at the Mopani Copper Mines reported him to the police for allegedly defaming the president.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday, sacking his health minister and promoting several junior ministers. Health minister Angela Cifire was fired and replaced by science and technology minister Brian Chituwo, said presidential spokesperson John Musukuma.

The Zambian government has sold its largest state-run commercial bank to Rabobank of The Netherlands in a deal worth more than -million, a minister announced on Friday. Rabobank has taken over the management of the Zambia National Commercial Bank with immediate effect.

Zambian Vice-President Rupiah Banda has said that political instability and chronic poverty in some Southern African countries make them fertile ground for terrorist recruitment. Without referring to specific countries, Banda spoke of the threat of the al-Qaeda terrorist network gaining a foothold in neighbouring countries.

Aids patients in Zambia are abandoning their life-prolonging drugs in exchange for bogus cures that have hit the market in recent weeks. The Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/Aids said it has received reports that some of its members were stopping the use of antiretroviral drugs for fake cures being promoted in the media.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has sacked his junior Lands Minister, a close ally, in a corruption crackdown aimed at stopping illegal allocation of housing plots, a presidential aide said on Monday. Deputy Lands Minister Moses Muteteka, was sacked over allegations of illegal allocation of housing plots.

Malawi has denied Zambia’s main opposition leader Michael Sata entry into the country and deported him, a Zambian immigration official said on Friday. Immigration Department spokesperson Mulako Mbangweta said Sata, leader of the opposition Patriotic Front, was deported from Malawi late on Thursday.

The Zambian government announced plans on Thursday to demolish illegal settlements throughout the country, an action expected to leave several thousands of people homeless. President Levy Mwanawasa’s Cabinet endorsed the plan to destroy illegal informal settlements that have mushroomed in urban areas recently.

Zambia broke the regional silence on Tuesday over the deteriorating political conditions in Zimbabwe, telling its counterparts in the Southern African Development Community to stop pretending ”all is well in Zimbabwe”. Zimbabweans, who are already jumping the border into South Africa in droves, are now also flooding into Zambia seeking food.

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.

A South African firm said on Wednesday it would go ahead with plans to build two luxury hotels on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls after the government rejected their other proposals in the national game park. Legacy Holdings said it would redesign its -million project in order to accommodate concerns raised by the government and environmental groups.

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.