Metro

Group accuses Zambian Speaker Mutti of breaching country’s constitution

Published

9 months ago

March 6, 2024

A Zambian coalition, the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), has accused Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, of several breaches of the country’s constitution and demanded the parliament to bring an end to her “excesses before she plunges the country into chaos.”

The alliance’s Chairperson for Communications, Jackson Silavwe, who made the call in a statement in Lusaka, said Mutti´s continued “wanton breach of the nation’s constitution has made her a threat to the very core legislative justice and discourse.”

He stated further that if Mutti’s “wanton desecration of the constitution was not stopped, the country would have nothing but only a shell of democracy left.”

“We refer to the matter of her decision to ‘endorse’ one Miles Sampa as the sole candidate for Zambia to the presidency of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), a decision that has raised dust not only in Zambia but the entire continent,” Silavwe cited.

He noted that the speaker had no such right to nominate Sampa due to the legal encumbrances that surrounded his very existence in the Zambian parliament.

Silavwe said in October of 2023, Sampa, the Matero Constituency Member of Parliament, was first suspended and then later expelled for a myriad of offences.

“These offences are not just on the table of his former ruling party the Patriotic Front (PF), but also in the courts of law in Zambia as well as the very Parliament that Mutti presides over.”

Silavwe also noted that respected Constitutional lawyer John Sangwa observed that the issue of Sampa, “cannot be adjudicated upon by any other body until the courts act.”

“He was further quoted in a recorded live interview on Radio Phoenix as having said the Speaker has gone rogue because you cannot have a matter before the courts of law adjudicated upon by anyone else.”

Silavwe also alleged that the parliament Speaker was granting the favours to her cronies and nominating Sampa for the presidency of PAP showed she had been compromised.

“It is therefore with utter dismay that we have noted Mutti´s decision to not only endorse Sampa, an embattled member of parliament but to also write a letter to the Pan African Parliament (PAP) recommending that he becomes the President of PAP from our Parliament and where he was expelled by his party,” he said.

He noted that Mutti had ignored court processes challenging her decision to recognise the “renegade” Sampa as President of PF, which, in UKA’s view, lend credence to the fact that Mutti was committing further breach of the constitution by endorsing Sampa to the highest seat in PAP.

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Metro

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

Published

5 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

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.

Metro

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

Published

22 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Isaac Dachen

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.