By Elias Munshya Customary marriages in Zambia are by their nature “tentative”. While the civil marriages give the impression of some permanence until they are dissolved by a positive order of a high court, this concept does not apply in customary marriages. Further, in civil marriages, dissolution of marriages must be on well established legal grounds such as adultery, living
Read moreBy Elias Munshya Malawian Pentecostals must be very proud of themselves. They have managed to get one of them to become President of Malawi. What a great honour and privilege. Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera is not only a member of the Pentecostal fraternity; but one of the classical Pentecostals’ well-known figure across Southern Africa and indeed the world. He has
Read moreBy Elias Munshya The two government ministers, based on their performance when announcing the COVID-19 deaths, seem to have acted so well for the camera that some of our people think that they are a couple made from heaven. I do not think heaven, but perhaps hell. I am a Pentecostal after all. How we elevate thieves and celebrate them,
Read moreBy Elias Munshya Bill 10 is obviously a disaster. You cannot bring together hundreds of people for 14 days and expect that within that time frame, you can come up with anything sensible. That the NDF was a complete sham is seen by the fruits and surrogates it has borne. You shall know them by their fruits cannot be more
Read moreBy Elias Munshya Obliterating the Personal? One of the first things that get destroyed when a dictatorship is trying to entrench itself is personal responsibility and personal accountability. When a government wants to kill and maim its people, it first begins by depersonalising them and the issues that concern them. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Justice Minister is
Read moreWe have a copy of the Constitution-Amendment-BILL, courtesy of https://acazambia.org. Here it is: Constitution-Amendment-BILL
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV. Amid a barrage of attack on our democratic institutions, it is crucial that we as a people do not succumb to the feeling of hopelessness and pessimism. I have an abiding faith in the people of Zambia that they will be able to overcome all challenges to stir their country back on to a
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV. The Senate of the University of Zambia has, in its wisdom, or most appropriately, foolishness decided to confer upon President Edgar Lungu an honorary doctorate. Typically, universities around the world have a specific choice for an honorary degree. Universities usually grant the general “doctor of laws”. Surprisingly, even those without a faculty of law
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.DIV. It is strange that ZCCM-IH went ex-parte to the Lusaka High Court to apply that Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) be placed under liquidation, or to be technically correct, under “provisional liquidation”. From the look of things, this Application and its resultant Order seems to have been obtained in the cover of the night. It
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.DIV. President Lungu knows or ought to know, that Honorable Margaret Mwanakatwe MP is struggling with an apparent illness requiring urgent treatment. However, I am wondering why despite this notorious fact, the president still maintains her at the ministry of finance. Is the president taking advantage of a woman’s illness for his political ends? As
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, BA, MA, LLB, LLM, MBA, M.DIV. A discussion of this nature places a demand upon us to situate this issue within elementary concepts. Zambia’s administrative law is developing very quickly. As should be expected in a burgeoning democracy, the executive state is shedding-off much of its responsibility and assigning it to statutory bodies. Changes in the administrative
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM. MBA, M.DIV. We really do not know all the facts surrounding Mr. Mumba Yachi’s arrest. From the public domain, we understand that he has been arrested for obtaining a Zambian passport and identity documents on false pretences. He on the other hand, it is being reported, asserts that he is a descendant of Lumpa exiles who had
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV The decision of the Constitutional Court to not hear Mr. Hichilema and Mr. Mwamba’s presidential electoral petition is really not about which of the several views expressed by the judges is “right” or “wrong”. Both the minority and the majority in the case may have been right. Judicial decision making is sometimes not about
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV. Reports that Malawians have invaded Zambia to vote should be evaluated within the ambit of history, for without such an analysis we will become rumour mongers and liars who want to create a storm in a cup of tobwa, the east’s favourite drink. There are no Malawians that are invading Zambia to vote, or whose
Read moreE. Munshya, LL.B., LL.M., M.Div. It is a national crisis when you have university graduates who cannot read, cannot write and cannot spell. It is a national disaster if you have graduates who cannot reason or engage in critical thinking. In Zambia, we face a huge crisis in tertiary education. This column has for the past two weeks addressed the
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.Div. History will be very kind to Petersen Zagaze. I am not a very good music critic, and so this article will not try to critic Zagaze’s music, but his lyrics. No artist has managed to get the ire of the ruling bourgeoisie like he has done. The 2005 single Munyaule was a controversial song. The lyrics
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB, LLM, MBA, M.Div. In the recent constitution amendment signed by President Edgar Lungu is a provision that is both absurd and confusing. According to Article 70 (1) (d), a person is eligible to be elected as a Member of Parliament, if that person “has obtained, as a minimum academic qualification, a grade twelve certificate or its equivalent”.
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. In his 2008 dissertation, theologian and historian Dr. Andriano Chalwe wrote the following about Bishop Sky Zibani Banda: “Banda will be remembered for his generosity.” He was right. Out of the many tributes pouring in about the late Bishop Banda, one theme is very dominant: he was kind and generous servant of the Zambian church.
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLM, M.Div., MBA To all police officers, please serve Zambians impartially. Do not shoot the innocent. Do not curtail liberties of our people. Protect President Lungu just as much as you would protect others. If you do not behave well and choose to behave like monsters, note that the world is watching, and politicians will not protect
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LL.M., MBA, M.Div. On Sunday October 18, 2015 President Edgar Lungu did something that was quite consistent with the practices of many of his predecessors: associate the Zambian state with the Christian religion. From its founding to the present, Zambia has wrestled with the question of what should be the correct relationship between faith and politics in
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LL.M., MBA, M.Div. When European colonialists landed on the shores of Africa, they found a continent and a people that were diverse, disparate, and disordered. In order for colonialism to take root, however, colonialists had to dismantle these three characteristics of the African peoples. It had to attack the diversity and the disparity of the African peoples.
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLB (Hons), LLM, M.Div. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the sole interpreter of the treaties and acts of the institutions of the European Union (EU). The African Union (AU) has not adopted a court similar to the role provided by the ECJ to the EU. Nevertheless, if and when the AU establishes such a court,
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, MBA, LL.M, M.Div. Recently, Zambia’s newly installed Chief Justice Irene Mambilima reminded the legal community of the need to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). According to Slapper & Kelly (2009: 391) ADR is a means of resolving disputes without resorting to court action. It is available in civil cases but not criminal cases. ADR includes Arbitration, Mediation,
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, LLM, M.Div., M.A., LLB, B.A. Multi-party participatory democracy is deeply weaved in the very fabric of Zambian democracy. It should be an offence under the penalty of treason to undermine our democratic foundations fortified by the concrete beams of multipartyism. Zambians fought Kenneth Kaunda’s one-party participatory democracy because we knew the benefit that lay in having parties
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. Regions are vital ingredients of our democracy. Without regional power and peculiarities, Zambian democracy would have long perished. The best way for Zambia is a heterogeneous political polity and a diverse confluence of various regional patterns and preferences. Instead of castigating regionalism, we must now, more than ever, embrace it and leverage it for national development.
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. From my upbringing as a child, to the present, I remain indebted to the nurturing I received as a member of the Pentecostal movement. I am forever grateful to my aunt’s church, which used to meet in a rented classroom at Chabanyama Primary School in Chingola. I learned to have faith in God. Pentecostalism’s greatest strength
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. We all must congratulate the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Zambia for its one-millionth baptism. Since its establishment in Zambia, the church baptized its one-millionth member in April 2015. While this feat has not been easy, it has demonstrated the resiliency and faithfulness of one of Zambia’s most widespread churches. The celebrations themselves were politically marred
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB, M.Div. To help fight the scourge of tribalism in Zambia, some of our people are buying into several slogans in the hope that these slogans will help build some national cohesion. There is one particular slogan that I find patently problematic. This slogan states, “My tribe is Zambia”. The goal of using this slogan is to try
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The time is finally here. In a few days, Zambia goes to the polls. What a milestone. Mature nations and great democracies use the ballot as the only legitimate way to change or not-change a government. For this we must commend ourselves and thank God Almighty for having given us the grace and the opportunity to
Read moreThe WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 82,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it. Click here to see
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The campaign time has come in earnest. It seems all the parties now have a general idea of who is going to be their presidential candidate. It is game on. Without being sub judice, it is clear that after the discharge of the injunction against Rupiah Banda, the ECZ and several other interested parties almost
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The news came as a shock to me. Like most deaths, the passing of Dr. Myles Munroe was completely unexpected. He was flying to a meeting he was hosting in The Bahamas when his private plane hit a crane and disintegrated. All the nine passengers including Dr. Munroe’s wife Ruth died on the spot on
Read moreKuli ba Mama Kaseba: Intanshi mutende! Before I proceed any further, let me state out-rightly what this letter is not about. As a person who strongly believes in women’s rights, I must commend your decision to stand as presidential candidate within days of burying your spouse. Indeed, every woman must aspire to provide leadership to this great country. Your
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The passing of President Sata has been devastating to the nation. But while the nation mourns, we should never forget that the President was a father, a spouse, a grandfather, an uncle and a close relative to some citizens among us. The loss that these relatives have suffered is surely personal, deep and disheartening. Relatives
Read moreA gentleman by the name of Micheck Shulumanda has asked a few questions over the propriety of Guy Scott acting as president. He is challenging the use of Article 38 instead of Article 39 when deciding who should act as president. I wish to provide some answers. If the President appointed Minister of Defense and Justice, and PF Secretary General
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Michael Chilufya did not have one life. He had many lives. His relatively long life, by Zambian standards, where life expectancy is around 45, mean that there is a huge span from which one could chose his story. Like many of his contemporaries, very little is known of his childhood. Born in 1937, there is
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. A discussion must be had about the role that Zambian music has played in the making of our nation for the past fifty years. There is great wisdom in the saying that music is food for the soul. However, with regard to nations, music is also food for national identity and national myth making. While there
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. As Zambia celebrates her fifty years as an independent nation, there is a great temptation to only look at the good events that have shaped the nation and completely ignore the sad stories. Indeed, there is a lot we can talk about the good stuff that have evolved over our times in the young nation.
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. This republic we now call Zambia is a product of several currents. As we celebrate 50 years of its existence we must look at all the stories that could help us navigate through these currents so that we can learn from history and not repeat mistakes from that history. Fifty years after our independence, there
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. When Wynter Kabimba got implicated in the oil scandal in 2012, we called upon President Sata to suspend him so that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) could freely investigate the matter. Sata said no! In 2013, when Wynter stated that the PF would rule for over 100 years, we expressed our concerns at the dictatorial
Read moreZambia at 50: Essays in honour of Zambia’s golden jubilee Between now and October 24 2014, Munshya wa Munshya column will be running special golden jubilee essays. The first one in these series is “’Top Soil’: Chinsali and the making of the Zambian nation” E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. What makes Chinsali great is not necessarily because it is home
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The nights and days are very cold this month of June. But in spite of this, the leaders of this country did not spare our people in Mindolo another brunt exercise of power. The people of Mindolo woke up, one night, to a colossal noise of bulldozers and graders tearing through the walls of what
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Trinity Western University is a Christian evangelical school located in the province of British Columbia (Canada). Students at TWU are asked to sign a community covenant agreement that, among other things, asks students to refrain from “sexual immorality.” Sexual immorality is defined as “sex outside of marriage”. This includes “homosexual sex”. TWU defines marriage
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The question is not really about whether President Sata is sick or not. The question is about how the nation and its political players should conduct themselves in moments of alleged presidential illness. When a president falls ill, or rather when allegations of presidential illness become apparent, we as a people have some choices.
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. In a culture driven by headlines, our people mostly never take the time to read the fine print. Ours is a society, which ignores the body of any information in preference for what the headlines are screaming. Just a few weeks ago, the headlines squealed and most of our people believed that Kenya had established
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Several judges of the High Court of Zambia have been quite consistent and clear with regard to the evidence the prosecution needs to provide when proving the age of a minor in defilement cases. In following the 1973 legal precedent of the case of Phiri (Macheka) v. The People most judges have gone to hold
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. We have lost a legend. A legend among us has left. A true Zambian icon has passed away. A great man has gone ahead of us. He was 78. He has gone to rest in eternal peace. For these three days, we have mourned together as one nation and we will continue to do so.
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya To treat a topic of this nature, a definition of terms is in order. Being of Congolese origin or heritage is a complex notion. However, in this article I use it to describe Zambian citizens with sufficient Congolese connections such as culture, tribe, family, and origins. I do not wish to use this term to
Read moreA prominent Zambian journalist and host of “Spit it Out” a program that deals with cultural issues was a few weeks ago battered by her husband. Mutolo Ngenda is 31 years old and her husband is about 20 years her senior. After the battering, her husband was reported to police and was later arrested. However, when the matter came up
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. In the song “Umuti wa Bufyashi”, the late Zambian maestro Emmanuel Mulemena and his Mulemena Boys penned a song that was ahead of its time. In the song, a young couple could not have children. Typical of Zambian tradition, the blame fell on the woman. And so she went to both Chiwempala and Mikomfwa
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Rev. Dr. Elias Munshya 