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Former Zambian Deputy Inspector-General of Police jailed 3 years

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A former Zambian Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Charity Katanga, has been sentenced to three years in prison after she was found guilty of illegal possession of property deemed as proceeds of crime worth over $2 million.

While delivering judgment on Monday, Lusaka Chief Resident Magistrate, Davies Chibwili, said the once feared Katanga failed to give a satisfactory explanation as to the source of funds with which she acquired luxurious buses as the money was not from her accounts.

The prosecution had told the court that Katanga, together with others between January 1, 2017 and June, 6 2022 bought 10 Higer Buses valued over $2 million suspected to be proceeds of crime.

“If the money that was paid to Higher for the buses did not come from her earnings as demonstrated in her answers, then were did it come from?” Chibwili queried.

“Take for instance the payments for the first two buses in 2017, a total of K3, 933,000 was paid to Higher from July 2017 to December 2017 in four installments.

“Where did that money come from especially that it did not come from any of the accounts the accused was linked to,” Chibwili added.

The Magistrate also noted that Katanga had failed to discharge the evidential burden placed on her by section 71(2) of the Forfeiture of Proceeds of Crime Act number 19 of 2010, and therefore, dismissed her defence as afterthought accordingly.

Following the sentence, Katanga, through her lawyer, Benjamin Mwelwa, pleaded for leniency, saying she had worked for the nation and protected lives and properties through out her duties, noting that the tag of “convict” was enough punishment for her senior standing in society.

However, Magistrate Chibwili reasoned that the former senior police officer had put a stain on the uniform and the police service as she was chasing criminals when she too was one.

“It is important to pass a sentence that will send a clear signal to those of us in positions of responsibility to be honest and act appropriately in our offices. Because after been caught the fall from grace is much harder than for an ordinary citizen,” the Magistrate said.

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65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

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A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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