MARY LEMBA Lusaka PEOPLE’S Pact presidential candidate and Socialist Party president Dr Fred M’membe says he will not attend the burial of Paramount Chief Mpezeni in Chipata tomorrow because Bemba royal traditions prohibit chiefs from coming into contact with death in order to avoid spiritual contamination. According to a statement issued by his advisor on chiefs and traditional affairs, Mr Kapasa Makasa Kalulu on the SP leader’s Facebook page, Dr M’membe, who is said to be a Bemba traditional chief Mwika Mukulu, is bound by customs of the Bemba Royal Establishment that forbid chiefs from attending funerals. Mr Kalulu said the restriction is intended to preserve the sacred status of traditional leaders and protect chieftainships from spiritual contamination. “Bemba chiefs are forbidden from coming into contact with death. They cannot attend funerals. This rule preserves the kingdom’s sacred status and protects the chieftainships from spiritual contamination,” he said. He explained...

CHOMBA MUSIKA Lusaka PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has urged young people to work hard, dream big, be loyal and respectful to elders while seeking God’s guidance. Mr Hichilema said in a message on his Facebook page yesterday that youths should seek God for wisdom in their endeavours. “To all our young people: work hard, dream big, be loyal and respectful to your elders and your nation, but, above all, seek God for He is your refuge, strength and source of wisdom,” the President said. Stakeholders have welcomed the President’s counsel to the youth, describing it as timely, especially in the digital era, where young people are exposed to a wide range of vices. Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church Lusaka Conference youth director Davis Kayaya said the President’s call for youths to work hard and respect their elders is in tandem with the church’s teachings…. https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home Source link

MARY LEMBA Lusaka IN THE wake of rising spread of misinformation, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has urged citizens to exercise caution and verify information before sharing it. Chief electoral officer Brown Kasaro says Zambians should seek to authenticate data during this period, when misinformation and digitally manipulated content are increasingly being used to deceive the public. Mr Kasaro said this in a statement yesterday, and refuted what he described as “alarming, false and misleading” claims that ECZ chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis has been arrested by the police. “Electoral Commission of Zambia wishes to categorically refute the alarming, false and misleading information contained in a video circulating on the Zambia Affairz Facebook page, alleging that ECZ chairperson Mrs Mwangala Zaloumis has been arrested after being found with pre-marked ballot papers,” he said. Mr Kasaro said no ballot papers for the 2026 general election have been printed. “The video in question...

THE media is replete with reports of leadership crises. On the contrary, South Africa does not have a leadership crisis. It has a humanity crisis in leadership. This is not a dramatic claim. It is a lived reality, visible in the silence before truth is spoken, in the quiet withdrawal of capable people, and in the widening gap between organisational performance and human experience.At its core, this is a crisis of dignity. A crisis of Ubuntu. We have not forgotten how to lead, but we have forgotten how to be with people.As Professor Phinda Mzwakhe Madi reflects in the foreword to The People Circle, as a nation, we have become adept at designing systems that perform, while neglecting the humanity those systems are meant to serve. And so, the question is not simply where we went wrong, but what we abandoned along the way. And, what happened to Ubuntu and...

JOHN CHAAMBWA Lusaka THE Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development has endorsed the first-ever Entrepreneurship Train initiative by Zambia Governance Foundation (ZGF). Zambia Entrepreneurship Train is a unique mobile learning programme, in which business owners travel by train from Lusaka to Livingstone to receive professional mentorship. A group of young entrepreneurs were over the weekend expected to travel to Livingstone for the mentorship programme. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) director Pamela Chilungoma said entrepreneurship remains one of the most important drivers of economic growth, job creation and community development in Zambia. “To the entrepreneurs who have been selectedfor this unique experience, maximise the opportunity. This initiative creates space for you to build practical skills, connect with mentors, share ideas and explore business opportunities,” Ms Chilungoma said. To support market access, the ministry facilitates exhibitions in partnership with the private sector for enterprises during major public holidays, providing entrepreneurs with...

Dr ABIGAIL KABANDULA ONE winter afternoon in Boston, I found myself standing outside a friend’s apartment building, wondering whether I had violated an unspoken social rule. I had texted earlier to say I was in the neighbourhood and thought I might stop by. A reply arrivedalmost immediately: “Today isn’t great. Let’s find a time next week.” The response was perfectly polite. Yet as I stood there in the cold, I realised I was still learning the social grammar of my adopted home.I grew up in Zambia, where friendship often unfolds differently. Relationships emerge through family, faith communities, neighbourhoods, workplaces, and chance encounters. They are lessstructured and less dependent on planning. Friendship is not something one schedules so much as something one inhabits.When I arrived in Boston more than a decade ago, I found this difference difficult to navigate. Nearly every aspect of social life seemed to require coordination. Calendars were...

AFRICAN diasporas often live at the crossroads of identity and culture, belonging fully neither to their old homes nor to their new ones. They exist in a kind of in-between space, familiar yet foreign in both places. In their adopted homes, whether in the United States, the United Kingdom, or elsewhere, they encounter a question that appears simple on the surface but carries surprising emotional weight: Where are you from?The question is rarely just about geography. More often, it is an attempt to place someone within a framework of assumptions about culture, behaviour, character, and belonging. For many in the diaspora, myself included, it can feel less like curiosity and more like an inquiry into legitimacy. A simple answer rarely satisfies the person asking. “Denver” or “London” is often treated as incomplete, as though the real answer lies elsewhere, buried beneath accent, skin colour, or appearance.I have come to recognise...

CHOMBA MUSIKA Lusaka THE opposition have no clear alternative policies to what is being implemented by President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND government. State House chief communications specialist Clayson Hamasaka said while President Hichilema’s vision is clear for Zambia, the opposition have not offered alternative solutions. “We encourage the opposition to debate ideas. We are still waiting,” Mr Hamasaka said. He said in a statement yesterday that the opposition have no ideas for Zambians ahead of the general election and have reduced their campaigns to mere attacks on Mr Hichilema. “There can be no election hype as long as the opposition remain without clear alternative policies to what is being implemented by President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND government,” Mr Hamasaka said. With 71 days left before the general election, Mr Hamasaka said Zambians are judging this year’s polls based on a simple test of who has a plan that...