By Elias Munshya, LLM, M.Div., MBA The resignation of Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM) from the Patriotic Front (PF) to the United Party for National Development (UPND) is a game changer. It is a game changer for both the PF and the UPND. It is rather fascinating, if not shocking, to see how GBM is managing to champion two causes that
By 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
E. 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.
E. 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
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
E. 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
E. 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
E. 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
E. 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
E. 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
You’ve all read the wiretap story from The Post about Chikwanda having a conversation with The Post’s employee. I also wiretapped Chikwanda. This time he was talking to Acting President Edgar Lungu.
E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), MA, MDiv. English and Pan-Africanism When a president has no agenda, she finds solace in promoting myopic nationalisms devoid of real sense. When a government has no tangible plan for development, it begins to couch useless pan-Africanist ideals that have no practical value. Nothing demonstrates this recklessness better than the recent decision of the Michael Sata government
By Elias Munshya, LLB(Hons), MA., M.Div. September 2009 on Radio Mano It is September 2009. In a few weeks, the people of Kasama Central are supposed to be voting in a by-election. The key candidates in this election are Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (PF) and Burton Mugala (MMD). Mwamba comes from the ruling family of Kasama. Mugala, on the other hand,
Elias 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
By 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
