Eight non-governmental organisations said last week that Coalition 2001 chairperson Ngande Mwanajiti should resign over alleged irregularities in the manner he has been running the organisation.

Seven opposition party leaders in court for allegedly defaming President Frederick Chiluba by calling him a thief argued in the Lusaka High Court on Tuesday that their arrests were “selective” and therefore unfair.

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.

The loss of three straight by-elections by President Frederick Chiluba’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) should be cause for concern for the ruling party in the run-up to general elections possibly later this year, political analysts told IRIN this week.

Economic watchers have long blamed Zambia’s inability to feed itself on an agricultural marketing system that shuns highly productive but often remote and inaccessible rural areas as risky and unprofitable.

Opposition party leaders facing defamation charges after calling Zambian President Frederick Chiluba a thief have presented their case in the Lusaka High Court. IRIN attended the proceedings.

We don't think President Frederick Chiluba was serious when he declared at a parliamentary by-election campaign rally in Kabwata on Wednesday that he was ready to invite auditors "at any time" to prove his innocence - to prove that he is not a thief.

Making a submission at a Transparency International -Zambia seminar on political parties' role in the fight against electoral corruption, Gen. Chinkuli said prior to 1991 the electorate never used to demand bribes for them to vote. Gen. Chinkuli said the practice to entice voters and giving them money and chitenge materials to canvas their votes only surfaced when the MMD came into power. "Chiluba brought corruption in 1991."

Corrupt people have no foot prints so it's up to the media to trace them, observed Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT) executive director Philliat Matsheza.

Zambia was expected to experience a huge shortage of maize, the country's staple food, the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) said on Thursday. "A maize shortage is expected this year. ZNFU estimates a shortfall of 120,000 to 150,000 mt," Songowayo Zyambo, ZNFU executive director, was quoted saying in an AFP report.

Excessive discretionary powers have contributed to the rise of corruption in Zambia, observed Auditor General Fred Siame yesterday.

People can lose faith in democracy and all institutions charged with good governance if corruption is rife, Human Rights Commission (HRC) member Justice Hamanzi has warned. Speaking during the launch of Transparency International (TI) Zambia on Friday, Justice Hamanzi said poor law enforcement could lead to civil wars in certain extreme situations.

Post editor Fred M'membe yesterday refused to "co-operate" with the police in their "probe" of Edith Nawakwi's charges that "Chiluba is a thief". Two plain clothes police officers from Woodlands police station yesterday visited The Post offices to ask M'membe, deputy news editor Amos Malupenga and reporter Bivan Saluseki to report to the police station. "I have come to a point where I feel I have had enough of police harassment and abuse," M'membe said.

Closing Date: 15 Aug 2001

Zambia's new opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) won a landslide by-election victory in a working class Lusaka suburb on Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Frederick Chiluba's party, news reports said.

Rampaging political gangs torched several vehicles and attacked voters in a crucial parliamentary by-election in Zambia's capital on Tuesday, heightening fears that widespread political violence will undermine general elections scheduled for the year-end.

The Angolan government on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to the 1994 Lusaka peace accord concluded with UNITA rebels and declined any new mediation in the stalled peace process, AFP reported.

More than 10,000 mourners attended a funeral service on Monday for Zambian opposition leader Paul Tembo, who was murdered on Friday before he was about to testify in a government graft case.

The former campaign manager of Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has been murdered in front of his horrified wife in a pre-dawn attack, his lawyers and family say. Paul Tembo, 41, was due to give evidence on Friday at a tribunal investigating corruption and abuse of office by three cabinet ministers.