Zambian government officials on Wednesday confirmed that 82 people were injured in a near-fatal train derailment in the country’s Southern province on Tuesday. Several coaches carrying more than 200 people derailed and overturned in the town of Mazabuka, about 200km south of Lusaka, during peak travelling time.
Zambia’s railway authority on Wednesday said it is still waiting for confirmation of the number of people injured in a near-fatal passenger train accident on Tuesday. Several coaches on a train carrying about 500 people derailed and overturned in the town of Mazabuka, about 200km south of Lusaka during peak travelling time.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa on Wednesday announced that Zambia has agreed to deport a Briton to his home country after he was arrested in Zambia on suspicion of terrorism. Haroon Aswat (31) has been named in media reports as the alleged mastermind behind the July 7 blasts in London that killed 56 people.
Zambia will not meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) target to put 100 000 HIV/Aids-infected people on anti-retroviral therapy by the end of the year, the government announced on Monday. The country does not have the financial or human resource capacity to meet this target, according to the minister of health.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has ordered police to arrest miners who vandalise property while continuing a strike for higher pay and better work conditions, a presidential spokesperson said on Friday. Striking miners on Thursday set off explosives at the biggest copper mine, which caused extensive damage.
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.
Zambia’s ruling party has expelled a senior member and popular politician over allegations of corruption just days before the start of a national convention called to elect a new party leadership, a spokesperson said on Monday. Austin Chewe had been tipped to win the party’s vice-presidency at the convention.
In an African context, Zambia’s level of corruption is hardly the worst, but it is a problem and politicians, church leaders and ordinary Zambians are starting to speak out against it. With its new status as a highly indebted poor country and the recent scrapping of its debt to Paris Club creditors boosting hopes of an economic upswing, perceptions are everything.
Zambia on Monday started a day of national mourning to mark the burial of an estimated 50 workers who died in a blast at a Chinese-owned explosives factory at a copper mine in the small town of Chambishi. All flags in the country will fly at half-mast and entertainment activities have been banned on Monday.
White farmers who lost their land in Zimbabwe are helping neighbouring Zambia shore up its tobacco and maize production while steering clear of political controversy. ”Tobacco production has increased in the last three years because of the white Zimbabwean farmers,” says Finance Minister Ngandu Magande.
Zambia’s Vice-President, Lupando Mwape, is threatening to quit his party over alleged acts of corruption and bribery to win votes ahead of the ruling party’s convention, state radio said on Monday. He said senior party figures have been engaging in corruption and bribery to win support ahead of the party convention.
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/ 21 February 2005
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa is offering to hold talks with civic groups and founding president Kenneth Kaunda on their demands for a new Constitution to be adopted before next year’s elections, state radio reported on Monday. Mwanawasa made the offer at a rally held on Sunday outside Lusaka, the report said.
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/ 10 February 2005
Zambia has met most of the requirements to qualify for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) relief programme that could slash its ,8-billion debt by more than half, an IMF official announced on Thursday. A joint IMF and World Bank mission to assess Zambia’s economic performance said Zambia’s economy has greatly improved in recent years.
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/ 10 January 2005
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa on Monday announced a Cabinet reshuffle and sacked a confidant as well as parliament’s chief whip in the Southern African country, saying it will broaden their experience. ”These changes are meant to expose my colleagues to different responsibilities so as to sharpen and widen their experience,” he said.
In Zambia, the battle for equality between men and women is being waged on many fronts — not least concerning the sentences handed down by courts. Men who kill their wives in this Southern African country are typically charged with manslaughter, rather than the more serious crime of murder.
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/ 29 December 2004
The festive season is traditionally a time of giving in Zambia, where the streets of the capital, Lusaka, are awash with people caught up in the buying frenzy that characterises the end of the year. Accordingly, the city’s street children are tracking the mood of consumers as carefully as any economist.
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/ 21 December 2004
Zambian police have released all 68 protesters, including several MPs, who were arrested for participating in a banned opposition demonstration to demand a new Constitution, an official said on Tuesday. ”They will appear in court soon,” police spokesperson Brenda Muntemba said.
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/ 18 November 2004
Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba was back in the dock on Thursday as a new corruption trial began on charges of stealing 000 (about R2,9-million) in state funds. A nattily-turned-out Chiluba sat for more than four hours, hearing testimony from the first three witnesses called in the trial.
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/ 18 November 2004
Zambia is preparing to mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Victoria Falls by Scottish missionary David Livingstone with a big splash that it hopes will draw a record number of tourists. One of the leading natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls is 1 708m wide, drops 108m and spills 550 000 cubic litres of water per minute.
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/ 9 November 2004
Copper mines in mineral-rich Zambia appear to have recovered from a slump two years ago and are expected to reach record levels of about 400 000 tonnes this year, the Central Bank governor said on Tuesday. Caleb Fundanga said production figures for the first nine months of 2004 have surpassed those for the same period in 2003.
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/ 2 November 2004
A pharmaceutical company producing Aids drugs in Zambia is ready to start clinical trials on 28 HIV-positive volunteers, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. Zambia is the first country in the Southern African region to produce anti-retroviral drugs outside South Africa.
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/ 29 October 2004
Zambia has halted a dodgy deal in which former senior government officials connived to defraud the government of ,1-million. Marck Chona, chairperson of the task force on corruption, said in a statement on Thursday that some officials who served in a previous government had tried to pocket money by inflating state debts.
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/ 17 September 2004
Zambia has temporarily suspended exports of crude oil to neighbouring Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo after fuel shortages hit the Southern African country, state media reported on Friday. The suspension will remain in force until the situation improves in Zambia.
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/ 16 September 2004
Voluntary testing or mandatory testing? That is the question Aids activists and government officials are grappling with in Zambia, where about one million people have already died in the pandemic since the late 1980s. As a draft national Aids policy is still under discussion, lawmakers have yet to finalise their position on the matter of testing.
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/ 15 September 2004
Zambians could be forgiven for pleading "Constitution fatigue". The Constitution that was drawn up for their country at independence in 1964 has been replaced three times in the past 40 years. Now, yet another Constitution is up for debate — something that has pitted the government against civil society.
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/ 2 September 2004
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that was discovered last week in Zambia’s Southern Province has spread to various parts of the country, threatening beef exports, an official said on Thursday. The disease, which usually kills cattle, is spreading quickly in the Southern African country because of a lack of vaccines.
Zambia’s government is to present a tough Bill on cyber crime to Parliament on Friday that will see convicted hackers and other offenders face harsh sentences ranging from 15 to 25 years in jail. The Computer Misuse and Crimes Bill enjoys strong backing from bankers and the Computer Society of Zambia.
Zambian and Angolan interior ministers on Tuesday were holding talks to try to clear obstacles in the way of allowing about 40 000 refugees from Angola to return home, an official said. Zambia is sheltering close to 200 000 Angolan refugees, the highest number of Angolans living outside their country.
While the Zambian hotels and resorts fronting the Victoria Falls are teeming with tourists, it is relatively quiet on the other side of the river. "Zimbabwe’s political and economic woes have benefited us tremendously," explains one of the locals, adding that tourism has probably been the biggest benefactor.
This month marks the second anniversary of a corruption task force set up by Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa to investigate the alleged improprieties of his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba. However, chances of the former leader being convicted on any of the charges seem increasingly remote.
The trial of Zambia’s former president Frederick Chiluba — who is accused of stealing -million in state funds — was adjourned on Friday because one of his co-accused has fled the country. The state said it was still trying to arrest Atan Shansonga, a former Zambian ambassador to the United States.
A Zambian court on Tuesday ordered the release of former president Frederick Chiluba on charges of stealing -million in state funds after the prosecution dropped the case. However, the decision was procedural, with prosecution officials saying they planned to file the charges again after carrying out a full review.