2010: Government awards Zambezi Resources Limited a licence for an open-pit copper mine in the Lower Zambezi National Park. Environmentalists oppose it, citing huge economic, social and environmental implications.
2012: ZEMA invokes Environmental Management Act No.12 of 2011 and rejects Zambezi Resources proposal to develop a mine in the national park, saying it would compromise its ecology.
Sep 3, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
The new Speaker
Nelly Butete Kashumba Mutti is a veteran human rights lawyer and businesswoman. When Chiluba started jailing opponents, journalists and civil society activists in the 1990s, Mrs Mutti took a stand when some lawyers avoided such cases for fear of reprisals.
She was known for taking on high profile cases considered hot potatoes, among them the 1996 presidential petition, for which she received threatening phone calls. She went ahead but paid for it when her husband Gerald Mutti (now late) was fired as Zamtel MD.
Aug 17, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I see Pilato is already leading a campaign for the removal of Lungu's immunity. We all know PF was a hopelessly corrupt regime that must be held to account. But we should not repeat past mistakes. #Thread
Chiluba's immunity was waived in 2002 and he was hastily charged with 160 counts of abuse of office running into millions of dollars. But as time went by, those charges started dropping because it turned out they could not stand in court.
May 16, 2021 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Reflecting on Inonge Wina
When Kenneth Kaunda recalled Arthur Wina from his PhD studies in California in 1962 to come and participate in the struggle for independence, Wina was already married to Inonge who had used her time in the US to study social work. #Thread
In the 70s, she was already in the grassroots women movement. By the time she successfully ran for Parliament under the UPND and got the Nalolo seat in 2001, she had been a veteran civil society leader who had risen to chairperson of NGOCC, the apex of Zambia's women movement.
Feb 20, 2021 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Political donations
In 1997 Chiluba introduced the so-called Presidential Discretionary Fund, which he dished out as he wished. It was taxpayers' money at the whim of an individual.
The fund was allocated in the National Budget and expressly passed in Parliament. In 1997, he had K4.1 billion at his disposal, which more than doubled in 1998 to K10 billion.
Ahead of the 2006 election, UPND, FDD and UNIP formed the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Andy Mazoka was billed as the alliance's candidate.
The basis for choosing Mazoka was the numbers. UPND came second in 2001, had a larger footprint and more MPs. The other unstated one was that Mazoka and UPND had the financial muscle too.
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