Elias Munshya, LLM, M.Div. President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has indicated that he will support dual nationality for Zambians. While we do not yet know the shape this initiative will take, it is important for us to support it. The last time a government tried to reform this area of law, it was severely defeated. Dr. Rupiah Banda of the Movement
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. Chama Fumba’s “A Lungu Anabwera” is most likely defamatory, disparaging, insulting and slanderous. No matter how we spin it, stating that President Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a “clueless drunkard from Chawama who came with suitcases full of ‘Kachasu’” is, quite probably, defamatory. The problem is not really whether Chama has defamed, but rather what we should
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. There have been reports that single mothers are having a hard time obtaining National Registration Cards (NRCs) for their children due to the demands by some registration officers for details of the father of those children before they are issued NRCs. The Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has rightly observed that such demands by some registration
Read moreE. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. Hakainde Hichilema can be quite upsetting sometimes. Just when President Lungu is trying to settle in his presidency, there appears Hakainde Hichilema making it difficult for President Edgar Lungu to shine. Just a few days after an increase in the price of paraffin, petrol and diesel, HH took it upon himself to “rub it in” by going
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The honorable Dr. Joseph Kasonde was born in 1938, his youngest counterpart in the legislature, Hon. Dawson Kafwaya, was only born in 1984. Between these two years is a spectrum of the ages of the current members of the Zambian parliament. Perhaps the most dominant myth to grace our politics in Zambia, is this persistent
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 (Hons), M.Div. Truth is the greatest antidote to error. The pain of truth is far more desirable than the comfort of lies and deception. It is better to build a continent or nations on a foundation of truth than try to build a people on false assumptions. For many years, Africans have been trying to live under
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The wisdom of the ages is strikingly clear. According to Pope Celestine I, “we are deservedly to blame if we encourage error by silence.” The manifestation of tyranny is always subtle. Oppression, no matter how heinous, usually does have trifling beginnings. Those who end up being oppressors frequently never plan to. They become tyrants by
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. President Lungu in exercise of his power has appointed a Mr. Likando Kalaluka as Attorney General of the Republic of Zambia subject to parliamentary ratification. This last week, a parliamentary committee met to scrutinize the appointment. It has been common practice that the committee would invite submissions from the Law Association of Zambia (LAW). The
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. When President Sata established the Chikopa Tribunal to probe the conduct of Judge Mutuna and Judge Kajimanga, I vehemently objected to that action. My reasons for objecting were provided in the article published by the Daily Nation Newspaper and the http://www.eliasmunshya.org blog. I supported Justice Fulgence Chisanga when she stayed President Sata’s decision. This case,
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The fact that events are identical does not necessarily mean that they are the same. This sounds rhetorical, doesn’t it? You cannot tell how the public will react to one thing by looking at the way they reacted when similar events happened. Similarly, you cannot predict the way the courts will rule simply because of
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The case is very familiar to many of us. But for the sake of clarity, we might need to restate its facts. In 2013, Rupiah Bwezani Banda was in court appearing for various charges under the Anti-Corruption Act. We need not mention that Banda is a former president of the republic who nevertheless had his
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. For someone who took almost three weeks to announce the cabinet, it is rather surprising that this cabinet has very few surprises. Unprecedented in the history of our nation, Edgar Lungu becomes the first president to take 19 days to announce a full cabinet. What is equally unusual with Lungu is the fact that by
Read moreIf you have to copy this table, please make an appropriate acknowledgement of the source. Just cite www.eliasmunshya.org and we will be happy. We do not guarantee the accuracy of these numbers. Final and official numbers will come from the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Some numbers may not be final for constituencies. Use with caution. We are not responsible for your BP, heart
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The election is drawing very near. Politicians are busy pounding on doors and flying their helicopters. Lungu has been soaring from Chinsali to Mpulungu, and from there to Katete. Hichilema has also been taking provinces by storm. As the campaign intensifies, so has the alignment and realignment of endorsements. What is actually fascinating is how
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. It is November 30 2014. Delegates have gathered at Mulungushi Rock of Authority in Kabwe. The Patriotic Front is supposed to be having its Extra-ordinary conference. The acting president of the Patriotic Front, Guy Scott, called the conference, but for some reasons best known to himself he has decided not to attend the conference. He
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. There is no legal framework upon which cabinet could fire Guy Lindsay Scott as Acting President of the Republic of Zambia. Guy Scott can only be fired if a question about his mental capacity or physical capability has arisen. However, as a people, we are perfectly in order to request that Scott recuses himself from
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. News that the government of Acting President Guy Scott has either fired or transferred some senior government workers makes sad reading. We should all be concerned when a transitory government purports to perform functions that are outside its mandate. According to Article 38 (3) of the constitution of Zambia, a Vice-President who is performing functions
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. If RB wants to stand, it would be great for the likes of Mulusa and RB to form the Movement for Bwezani and Mulusa (MBM) so that they can field RB. They should leave the MMD so that the party functions under the leadership of its elected president. What RB is doing to MMD, is not
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 moreRE; PURPORTED SUSPENSION IS ILLEGAL AND HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE UNDER THE PARTY CONSTITUTION AND UNDER THE CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF NATIONAL MOURNING I have learnt with deep regret the illegal and provocative action taken by Dr. Guy Scott purporting to dismiss me as Secretary General of the Party. This action is illegal and has no foundation or support of the PF party
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. The President of the Republic of Zambia, Michael Chilufya Sata has died. He died in a London hospital on 28 October 2014. Sata died the same week that the nation was celebrating 50 years of independence from Great Britain. The question grappling the nation right now is whether the nation’s Vice-President Guy Lindsay Scott satisfies
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. After 50 years of independence there is need for Zambians to begin reimagining the myth of their nation. The story of our nation needs to be told in a fresh and new light. Each time a nation or indeed an individual celebrates an anniversary; there is a great temptation and pressure to focus only on the
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB, M.Div. Dr. Rupiah Banda has all the reasons in the whole world to be angry and to be outraged at the way the party that defeated him in the 2011 polls is handling national affairs. The economy is in crisis. National security is now just a wiretap away. Our country has lost its international profile. Banda’s successor
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 moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Zambia has seen no court case full of stuff only fit for reality TV than the case of Lewanika & Others v Chiluba (1998). Mention it. And you would most probably find it there. A president who seemed to have had no idea about the identity of his father. A picture that disappeared at night
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. There is no evidence to suggest that Nevers Mumba had, two weeks ago, approved of the action by MMD party cadres to sing lyrics mocking the disability of Hon. Nickson Chilangwa. In this article, I make no such allegation against Mumba. However, that unfortunate event provides us with an opportunity to address such issues. Chilangwa
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div The Zambian state has a legitimate interest in enforcing the law. The state is well within its powers to try and apply immigration laws. Those who are in our country illegally should be made to account for their abuse of the law. I do support the Zambian state in its desire to bring some sanity
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons). M.Div. Some Members of Parliament (MPs) are demanding for a pay increase. And our people are quite justified in their outrage. This is even sincerer since there is an assumption among our people that MPs are well compensated already. It is controversial to justify a salary hike for MPs at this time when there is apparently
Read moreMunshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The City of Lusaka, as messy as it is, is still very strategic to the economic interests of our country. We must take great care of the hands that feed us. As a nation, we must arrange and repackage this city in ways that would ensure development for its people and generally for Zambia. The government
Read moreE. Munshya, M.Div., LLB (Hons) And then we all saw the pictures. They came 24 days after President Sata’s unannounced departure to Tel Aviv, Israel for a “working visit.” In the pictures taken with a Nikon D90 by Thomas Nsama, on July 14, between 9:02 and 9:34, President Sata could be seen addressing a cabinet meeting. Most ministers were present
Read moreBy Elias Munshya, M.Div., LLM (Candidate) Human Rights activist Brebner Changala sought leave of the High Court of Zambia to commence judicial review proceedings into the Zambian cabinet’s failure to enquire into President Sata’s apparent ill-health. High Court Judge Isaac Chali issued his ruling today, July 11 2014. He has denied Changala leave to proceed. Here is a of the judgment: Changala
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. At the age of 50, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Mumba Malila is one of the youngest Zambians to have ascended to the apex of our courts. We should heartily congratulate him for this feat. Called to the Zambian bar in 1989, Malila’s twenty-plus years of experience as a lawyer place him in a
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. In the interest of state unity and national sanity, Vice-President Guy Lindsay Scott should either be fired or severely reprimanded so that he stops making statements that can stoke national panic. There is the sense in which Scott is trying to do anything possible to fortify Wynter Kabimba as the heir apparent to the Patriotic
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div Never in the short history of our republic have we had a vice-president who is as marginalised as Guy Lindsay Scott. Effectively, this Patriotic Front government has managed to reduce the vice-president of our republic to a non-entity. As if it is not enough that Scott has no clue of much of the stuff happening
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Personal sabotage should know its constraints. But just when you think that stuff cannot get any worse, that is when it usually does. It is one thing to make a small mistake, or perhaps, to misspeak once in a while. We are all human after all. But when you are part of a cabinet handling
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 moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. There is no doubting that the 30th May “midnight” court ruling in Malawi has significant implications for Zambia. In 2016, Zambia is likely to face a somewhat contentious election. That being the case, we have a lot to learn from the way Malawi high court handled the electoral petition presided by Mr. Justice Kenyatta Nyirenda.
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. It is sad. It is bizarre. It is chillingly baffling that a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church now becomes the latest victim of a menacing phone call from the president of the our republic. According to reports, Bishop Lungu last month narrated in his homily in Chipata how the President phoned him and gave him
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div Our republic can have no better politicians than the promise epitomised by young and educated leaders such as Hon. Lucky Mulusa. We are better and we will better as a nation if people of Mulusa’s calibre are encouraged to participate in politics. They bring a breath of fresh air to the political scene. When dinosaurs,
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Agony is having someone serve as your vice-president and yet never give him the opportunity to act as president when you are not around. It is quite absurd that President Sata would have a vice-president distrusted to serve. When the PF government came into power in 2011, we welcomed the idea of an African
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. In our democracy, there should be no reason why the police command should be wasting taxpayers’ bullets and teargas to chase Hakainde Hichilema (HH) out of the Eastern Province. Bullets and teargas should be for criminals and not ordinary citizens. Reports that Inspector-General (IG) Stella Libongani had sent a battalion of police and soldiers to
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. We are a nation of “tamanga.” We are the generation epitomising the notion of “ifintu ni bwangu”. In everything we do, “musanga musanga” has come to define who we are and where we stand. “Tamanga” can mean many things. On the street, it has come to mean a people who have to hustle for survival.
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), Mdiv. We make no error by stating, unequivocally, that Hakainde Hichilema was the big winner from the by-elections held in February. Things are looking pretty good for HH. The United Party for National Development (UPND) did exceptionally well. It is becoming eloquently clear that the winds of political fortune are gusting their way. For how long,
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Instead of being a father to the fatherless, President Sata has become a scoffer of the fatherless. Instead of being a father of the nation, President Sata has chosen to ridicule those among citizens who have lived without knowing their fathers. Quite extraordinarily, it takes a lot of steel for a man to condemn
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Many have undertaken to write on the appropriateness and inappropriateness of Hon Harry Kalaba’s decision to overrule Zambia’s environmental body. Kalaba has permitted a foreign company strangely known as “Zambezi Resources Limited” to develop an open pit mine in the middle of the Lower Zambezi National Park. Ignoring advice from environmental experts from the Zambia
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The facts of the 2012 case of one Ms. Kay Figo and her lover Mr. Van are very well defined. Around 2007 a 55 year-old Mr. Van met a 21-year Ms. Kay Figo at a Kabwata nightclub. Due to love at first sight, Mr. Van that night invited Ms Kay to his Makeni home.
Read morePlease find attached Zambia’s new draft constitution. This is the Silungwe constitution draft. CONSTITUTION-OF-ZAMBIA-TECHNICAL-COMMITTEE-AUGUST-2013-3 DISCLAIMER: This website makes no representation whatsoever as to the accuracy of this document.
Read moreBy E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), MA, MDiv. The New Year is finally here. We should all be relieved that the year 2013 has come to an end. Each New Year brings to us a fresh perspective on life. And for Zambia, we all should expect a renewed look at what would make our nation better and greater. The shape of
Read moreCopy of the High Court Judgment of Austin Liato v The People (HCZ, 2013). Click on this link and let us know what you think about the reasoning employed by Judges Siavwapa, Mchenga and Sharpe-Phiri. Austin Liato vs the people-2
Read moreElias Munshya The era of pan-Africanism is over. Pan-Africanism has flopped. And it has flopped very miserably. It needs to be replaced, as it is no longer appropriate. Whatever is still alive in the beast of pan-Africanism should be exterminated. Africans must give up this dream and replace it with a vision that is more compatible with African realities. The
Read moreMunshya wa Munshya William Harrington, a private citizen of Zambia wrote the Chief Justice of Zambia requesting that a tribunal be instituted to probe the activities of a cabinet minister. Hon. Sylvia Masebo is alleged to have committed some irregularities with regard to her role in personnel firing, board appointments and subsequent awarding of tenders in the Ministry of Tourism
Read moreMunshya wa Munshya Myths are powerful. Not only do they create nations, but they also perpetuate them. No nation can last, for a day, without some story justifying its existence as a nation or as a group of nations. Human genius knows no better partner than the myth of national storytelling. Through myths, we tell stories of our nation. Through
Read moreMunshya wa Munshya Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education results are out. And they are pathetic. Out of over 200 candidates only 6 managed to pass the legal practice exams. Another six of repeaters have passed. Now this number translates to a meager 3% pass rate. The next number is even more worrying, upsetting actually. Ninety-seven per cent of all
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. Fighting for his political survival, Hon. Wynter Kabimba, made a very significant comment that his party has a clique of Bemba political hegemonists. Even Guy Scott has supported Wynter in these assertions. A daily newspaper has also, in its editorial, made the same allegations: there seems to be a Bemba clique within the PF that
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya On Tuesday, 3 September 2013 Justice Mungeni Siwale Mulenga ruled in the case in which Dora Siliya and others had sued the Attorney General and the Electoral Commission of Zambia for banning her and her friends. The media outlets have ably reported that Dora Siliya and her friends have won. Justice Mrs Mulenga reversed the
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya Mr. Terry Musonda, a spokesman for the judiciary of Zambia has issued a statement in which he purports to clarify the issue that has engulfed our nation in recent days. The issue has been whether a respondent in an election petition, whose seat gets nullified, by the High Court should also, by strength of the
Read moreElias Munshya, LLB (Hons), MA, Mdiv. The Issue President Michael Chilufya Sata in May 2013 used his powers as President of the Republic of Zambia to withdraw government recognition of one Henry Kanyanta Sosala as Senior Chief Mwamba of the Bemba people. According to President Sata, Sosala did “not fully undergo Bemba rituals for him to ascend to the throne
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya Petitions After Zambia’s elections of 2011, the party that won the elections, the Patriotic Front (PF) decided to petition dozens of seats won by the opposition parties. Among other reasons for so petitioning, the PF contended that these particular seats had been won either fraudulently or corruptly. Among the seats petitioned are those of close
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya It should not calm any nerves to realize that an analysis of the majority ruling in Attorney General v Mutuna, Kajimanga and Musonda should begin by looking at a single sentence taken from its last paragraph. Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda, stated in the last paragraphs of her over 120-paged opinion that: “Before we end,
Read moreBy Munshya wa Munshya Over the issue of the lifting of Rupiah’s immunity, we are conflating too many issues and I am afraid it is becoming confusing for me. I have not said that what parliament did was FAIR. I have not even supported the action of parliament. I have not said what they said was good for the country.
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya On Friday, 15 March 2013, the Zambian parliament debated a motion that sought to remove the presidential immunity enjoyed by former president of Zambia, Dr. Rupiah Banda. The motion passed by 80 votes, with most of the opposition members of parliament staying away from the proceedings. A day earlier, on Thursday, lawyers of the former
Read moreBy E. Munshya Wa Munshya Zambia’s presidency and presidents have dominated much of post-colonial analysis of politics and history. This is very well understood, considering the power that the presidency wields and the central role that it plays in the political and economic life of the nation. As such, political leadership in Zambia has been discussed from the ambit of
Read moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya The Birth of The Man Biographers differ about where and when Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba was born. Even his names have raised controversy. Chiluba’s background had been such a thorny issue, that in the 1996 case of Lewanika and others v. Frederick Chiluba the Supreme Court of Zambia was invited to make a ruling on
Read moreBy E Munshya wa Munshya On 12th December 2012 Zambia’s Home Affairs Minister issued a deportation order to one Abdul Simwaya. Referring to him as a “foreign national”, Hon. Edgar Lungu declared that Simwaya had become “a danger to national security”.[1] Mr. Lungu further stated, “Government will not hesitate to deport foreigners that breach Zambian laws”. In a December 15
Read moreBy Munshya wa Munshya Issues surrounding recent events in the MMD can be analyzed from different angles. However, in this article I wish to concentrate on only one angle. That is whether Major Kachingwe can succeed at law to have the courts invalidate the election of Nevers Mumba as MMD president. It is my opinion that it would be very
Read moreE. Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. To begin with, I must mention that I belong to that school of thought which believe that the current law in Zambia that deprives Zambians from acquiring dual nationality should be amended. I am of the opinion that we so amend the constitution as to allow for dual nationality. This is the right thing to
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 moreBy E. Munshya wa Munshya That the Patriotic Front’s foreign policy is a disaster is there for all to see. It started at the inauguration of President Michael Sata when he refused to invite his Malawian counterpart but instead invited Wa Mutharika’s tumultuous predecessor Bakili Muluzi. This lack of clear foreign policy guidelines has spilled over into several diplomatic agencies
Read moreBy Elias Munshya wa Munshya This article explores factors that have contributed to the rehabilitation of former president Chiluba’s image. First, by rewriting the script of Chiluba’s prosecution, after his acquittal, the Rupiah government has helped repair Chiluba’s image. Rupiah’s government has managed to claim that Chiluba was a victim of excessive prosecution. Barely months after the passing of Mwanawasa,
Read more
Rev. Dr. Elias Munshya 