By Elias Munshya & Michael Chishala “A person who has twice held office as President,” states Article 106(3) of Zambia’s Constitution 2016, “is not eligible for election as President.” However, Article 106 (6) further explains that a Vice-President, or another person who assumes the presidency due to a by-election, will not be deemed to have held office if they have served
By 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
By E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV. There is no better way to win an election than to win an election. For those who win elections, they win elections by winning elections. Those who want to win an election must win an election by winning an election and not winning a court case. In 2006, Michael Chilufya Sata of the Patriotic Front
By E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV Our nation is in crisis. We have suddenly realised that we too are a violent nation. The so called oasis of peace, we think we are, has been challenged a great deal by recent events. Zambians known for hospitality made headlines in April, 2016 when they looted shops owned by foreigners. Suddenly, right before
By E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, MDIV. (Barrister & Solicitor) On May 10, 2016 at Kabwe Justice Dominic Y. Sichinga issued his decision in the Sibongile Zulu v. Electoral Commission of Zambia and Attorney General case. I provide an analysis of the decision using a question to answer format. Why was the case decided in the High Court instead of the
E. Munshya, LLB, LLM, MDIV. In the Zambian doctrine of separation of powers, each branch of government has a distinct role to play and no one branch should interfere in the other’s function. Parliament makes the law, the executive implements the law while the judiciary interprets the law. But this doctrine is quite subtle. Our system of government does allow
E. Munshya, LLB, LLM, MDiv. There is nowhere to hide anymore. Big corporations that dare pollute our rivers and poison our waters should be held accountable anywhere around the world. A word of caution to big companies, please treat all stakeholders well and be socially responsible. Polluting our rivers and poisoning the sacred springs of Chingola will result in dire
E. Munshya, LL.B., LL.M., M.Div. Justice Christopher Mushabati, a commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (the “Commission”) has issued what seems to be an official directive from the Commission about the Grade 12 requirement for running in the 2016 elections. According to him, only a school certificate as defined by the Examinations Council of Zambia (the “Council”), will be
E. Munshya, LLB, LLM, M.Div. His Excellency Emmanuel Mwamba, High Commissioner of the Republic of Zambia to the Republic of South Africa has applied to the ruling Patriotic Front to be considered for adoption as a parliamentary candidate in Matero. Mr. Mwamba’s political background is very well known. He was the principal architect of candidate Edgar Lungu’s media strategy in
E. Munshya, LLB., LLM, M.Div., MBA To borrow from the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Zambia has a written constitution which “says what it says and does not say what it does not say”. Barring some concepts that are deeply tied to constitutionalism, the Zambian constitution should be interpreted from the intention of its written text. It is not surprising that
By E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.Div. Nothing can get more politically bizarre than the sudden announcement that Elias Chipimo, Miles Sampa and Eric Chanda would form an electoral alliance to defeat the incumbent Patriotic Front (PF) government. This Sampa-Chipimo-Chanda (SCC) alliance is bizarre on so many levels. First, Elias Chipimo appears to be quite a level headed gentleman. But he
E. Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.Div. Surprise, surprise. Now that we have read the new constitution we are quickly realising just how much of a blessing, and a controversy it has become. I would be surprised if a constitution did not evoke opposite emotions and everything in between. Beginning from the Grade 12 qualifications to the omission of deputy minister positions,
E. 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”.
You can download Zambia’s constitution as amended. Please note that the constitution is not necessarily a new constitution but is an amendment of the 1991 Constitution. This is why it is called the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act of 2016. Elias Munshya, LLM, MBA, M.Div. Download here. Just click below and you will have it. Constitution of Zambia (Amendment)
By 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
When the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) released its results two weeks ago, I expressed my concern at the low passing rate. I am not alone in this concern. I have been asked some questions. I would like to answer them in turn.
By Elias Munshya, LL.M., MBA, M.Div. A business corporation on the Copperbelt is alleged to have polluted the Kafue River system in Chingola causing death and untold suffering among the local residents. While these remain allegations at the moment, ethical questions are being asked about what should be appropriate relationship between companies, profits and their ethical obligations to the various
Elias Munshya, LLM, M.Div., MBA To redeem our national pride and domestic prowess, we must face the truth. To quote our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall “know the truth and the truth shall set us free”. What we need in Zambia is a huge dose of truth. Truth is important for several reasons. First, truth helps us to make a
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. 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
E. Munshya, LLM, M.Div. Kuli ba Kaunda, Intanshi mutende! Thank you for the speech you gave on Africa Freedom Day, 25 May 2015. On that day, the president of our republic, Edgar Chagwa Lungu decided, for some reason to give you an honour and recognition of “Founding Father of Zambia”. I am still not too clear about what that means exactly.
E. 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
E. 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
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
E. 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
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), 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
E. 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
E. 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
E. 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
By Elias Munshya wa Munshya Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba believes that political parties are not the centre of the political process, people are. As such, he sees nothing wrong with changing parties, starting new ones, disbanding others and going back to the parties that disowned him. Political parties for Nevers are tools that a person can use to aspire for
By 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.
E. Munshya, LLB (Hons), MA, MDiv. President Levy Mwanawasa (Zambian President from 2002 to 2008) was a controversial figure. Without doubt he has gone into history as one of the most contentious presidents. Several things about Mwanawasa are contentious. Just how he was called from political retirement to become Chiluba’s preferred MMD presidential candidate ruffled a lot of feathers within
By 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
Elias 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
Munshya wa Munshya From the instant that little known Emmanuel Mwamba was appointed President Frederick Chiluba’s personal assistant he became an instant sensation. The man would be seen defending and in many cases travailing for his boss. Chiluba had so much confidence in Mwamba that on several occasions, Chiluba deferred to Mwamba in many press appearances. Nothing should prepare a
Munshya 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
By Munshya wa Munshya Brigadier General Godfrey Kenneth Miyanda has objected very strongly to this paragraph in my article of 20 September 2013 in the Daily Nation Newspaper. This same article is also published on http://www.eliasmunshya.org. This is what I wrote: When Chiluba and his cohorts – Michael Sata and Miyanda to be exact – found great solace in the barbaric
By Munshya wa Munshya If history were tomatoes, we could all easily amble towards Soweto Market find vendors and from a variety of that fruit choose which kind we want. If history were a presidential candidate, we could easily exercise our franchise and choose from two competing chronicles. Indeed, if history were a brand of soft drinks, we could turn
By Munshya wa Munshya Nothing shows the character of a president, or any person for that matter, than the battles she chooses to fight. The saying that action speaks louder than words becomes even more real for a nation, in the type of undertakings that a president decides to employ. There can be no doubt that both action and inaction
By E. Munshya wa Munshya We are seeing the portrait of a very active and engaging leader from State House, a cobra in his own right. President Sata is appearing in more public events. He is seen commissioning or not commissioning roads, and he is being seen in public berating his juniors for what he perceives to be mediocre work.
By Munshya wa Munshya That acting Chief Justice of Zambia, Lombe Chibesakunda should resign has been clearly enunciated by very distinguished bodies and reputed personalities in Zambia. In fact, no other issue has captured considerable coverage in the Zambian media, in the past weeks, than this Chibesakunda saga. Civil society, as well as the Law Association of Zambia, has made
By 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
I have not given up on Zambian Railways and neither have I given up on the Zambian people. I have not given up on the resolute will of our people to better our country and restore our future.I believe in Zambia and I believe in its destiny. But at the same time, I believe that we must change our systems
By E. Munshya wa Munshya Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba was never part of the political elite that developed in Zambia after independence in 1964. He was an outsider. In fact, this is the only reason that made him more attractive to his MMD colleagues in 1990 to challenge Kaunda in the first multiparty elections since independence. As such, Chiluba was
By 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.
By 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
Musamba Mumba, going by the name Proud Aushi or Proud Ushi Musamba Mumba is an active blogger whose political insight and prowess is exactly what Zambia needs. In moments of great political intimidation and paternalism Musamba speaks her mind out concerning issues affecting Zambians. She is a critic of President Sata and his Patriotic Front government. On Facebook she receives
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
By E. Munshya wa Munshya, LLB (Hons), M.Div. The book, “Prophetess Alice Lenshina: God’s African Commander, Her Generational Blessings and Legacy” is a 224-page book. Its author, Apostle Margaret Wealth Mwila Buter claims to have been inspired to write it out of a prophetic word she received while listening to a message from her Pastor in London, England. Out of
By 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
