Rev. Dr. Elias Munshya

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya This week will be the nineteenth anniversary of President Chiluba’s declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation done on 29th December 1991, and the seventh anniversary of Roy Clarke’s “Mfuwe” article, written on January 1 2004. The controversy, interest and debate generated by these two events are still fresh in theological, academic, legal and journalistic

Regina Chiluba’s Acquittal: Kafunda and the Prosecution’s Fiasco By Elias Munshya wa Munshya The Lusaka High Court’s ruling when acquitting Regina Chiluba from the charges she was convicted for is a very significant legal opinion. All Zambians both within the legal profession and outside it should read it and deeply reflect on it. What Justice Hamaundu mentioned in his judgment

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya One of the most comedic characters of the movie Madagascar is the self-proclaimed Sovereign of the Madagascan wildlife, King Julian. In real life, however, we have another King Julian. This time it is Julian Assange, an Australian who styles himself as the king of “holding governments accountable.” In fact the motto of his wikileaks organisation

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Many opposition political parties, civil society organizations and particular one daily newspaper detest William Banda, the MMD’s Chairman for Lusaka Province. They accuse him of having a UNIP mentality of caderism and violence. William has been in politics for many years. He was a UNIP stalwart who was under very controversial circumstances stripped of Zambian

A Pact of Naivety: Hakainde Hichilema and his Lost Battle for the Pact By Elias Munshya wa Munshya In an earlier article, I had given the so called UPND/PF Pact until November 2010 to survive. After November, I predicted that it was going to disintegrate into stark factions and rancour. November is two months away and all the signs are

It’s How We End That Matters: A Review of Kalungu-Banda’s Book on President MwanawasaBy Elias Munshya wa Munshya The author of the book, It’s How We End That Matters: Leadership Lessons from an African President, Martin Kalungu-Banda is not new to Zambia. He has been a lecturer at UNZA, worked for BP Zambia, OXFAM and famously had a stint at

From Kamanga to Kunda: Political Lessons from Zambia’s Vice-Presidents By Elias 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

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Myth1: Judge Hamaundu’s Verdict Reversed the London Judgment Reality: Judge Hamaundu’s verdict did not deal with the substantive issues of whether Chiluba was liable or not, or whether Judge Peter Smith was right or not. Instead, all Judge Hamaundu ruled on was on whether the Government could serve Chiluba with the London High Court papers

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Zambians were told that the reasons why the Attorney General Hon George Kunda, SC sued Chiluba in London were to reach him where the Zambian courts could not reach. Kunda and Mwanawasa alleged that Chiluba had stashed millions of dollars outside the Zambian court’s jurisdiction. And for the government to confiscate those millions they needed

And so Naomi Campbell has finally testified in Charles Taylor’s trial at the Hague. Crucial to the prosecution’s case is to link Taylor with raw blood diamonds that he commandeered as head of the State of Liberia and leader of a rebel cause in the neighboring Sierra Leone. The prosecution are alleging that Naomi was given raw uncut and unprocessed

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya When some of our people expressed serious reservations about the so called UPND-PF Pact, they were met with severe intellectual attacks. Both Sata and Hichilema, decided to promote an idea of the Pact that they both were not fully committed to. They both were singing a song that they were not truly committed to. The

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Since 1991, Fred M’membe and his The Post Newspapers have been great custodians of Zambia’s press freedom. In fact, many of the scores that Zambia has attained in the democratic dispensation have been due to the courage of M’membe and his The Post. M’membe’s great work has undoubtedly ruffled many feathers and earned him enemies

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya The most anticipated launch of the UPND/PF pact has finally materialized. The Pact members were mobilized in Lusaka to launch a pact that they feel would achieve the aspirations of removing the MMD from power. But as I show in this article—the launch of the UPND/PF pact, while being a major political milestone in the

The Kentucky Republicans have chosen Dr. Rand Paul as their candidate for Senate in the November 2010 elections. Paul beat his establishment challenger handsomely. However, Paul’s stance on civil rights is receiving lots of attention a few days after winning the Republican nomination. In this article I wish to argue why Dr. Paul’s views are erroneous. To understand his views,

Movement for Mufumbwe Disaster: What the MMD must do to Redeem ItselfBy Elias Munshya wa Munshya The MMD’s loss in Mufumbwe is a bitter pill to swallow for them. This is in fact evidenced by their refusal to concede defeat. However, it is a thesis of this article to show that while the Mufumbwe loss was a huge shock to

“Catile Cobe”: Presidents and Rumors of Insults from Kaunda to Banda By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Recent reports of insults and counter-insults between President Rupiah Banda and Hakainde Hichilema and between President Banda and Mr. Michael Sata make for some distressing reading. However, these events have been exacerbated and grossly exaggerated, partly, by the media. In actual fact, Zambia’s history

By Elias Munshya wa Munshya The Holy Week is a powerful moment in the life of the Christian church. Each year this week becomes a reminder of the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beginning on Palm Sunday, the Church all over the world reenacts the pain of Jesus’ Holy Passion leading up to his death on

The forthcoming elections in Zambia have the potential to be the most intriguing elections in many years. Several analysts are predicting that Michael Sata and his PF are very likely to form the next government. This analysis has been buoyed by the pact that the PF has formed with the UPND, Zambia’s third largest party. However, in this article, I

Why Should Luapula Province Matter For the MMD? By Elias Munshya Wa Munshya The recent visit of President Rupiah Banda to Mwata Kazembe of Luapula Province and to some districts in Luapula Province has highlighted just what is at stake politically for Luapula Province. First, Luapula matters to the MMD due to the presence of PF rebel MPs. Totaling ten,

This article seeks to respond to Henry Kyambalesa’s article “Zambia: the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation” published on http://www.lusakatimes.com/?p=23244 which I had accessed on January 20 2010. I will respond to several salient points from his article. First, Kyambalesa’s assertion that the Declaration was an imposition of religion on the Zambian society is not quite right. Zambians have

There has been reports recently that some African countries have responded very positively to Haiti’s devastation. DR Congo has pledged to give $2.5 million, while Senegal has pledged to help settle Haitians who would be willing to relocate to the African country. Some, including a professor at the University of Kinshasa have condemned Congo’s gesture dismissing it as a political

By Munshya Wa Munshya There has been several concerns from various quarters within the Zambian political establishment about whether and how much the current President Rupiah Banda and his government have either betrayed or enhanced the legacy of the late President Levy Mwanawasa. Ng’andu Magande, a former Finance Minister, has been a vocal critic of Rupiah and his government’s betrayal